


Dancing Our Way Through the Court

by rinnenotsubasa



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Self-Indulgent, Strangers to Lovers, bro!soonhoon, bucin!cheol, established!boochan, i love sly fox shua don't @ me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:08:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22863028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rinnenotsubasa/pseuds/rinnenotsubasa
Summary: 35-year-old contemporary dancer Soonyoung had joined many competitions throughout his career. The most important one happened in high school and involved a certain basketball player.
Relationships: Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi
Comments: 31
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is very cheesy and purely self-indulgent.
> 
> I have written rough first draft for most of the story, but haven’t edited them. I will edit as I post. Aiming for update every weekend, but when life happens it might become once in 2 weeks.
> 
> This fic is written with support from (in no particular order):  
> -[kugure](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kugure/pseuds/kugure) and [ LanMao](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LanMao/pseuds/LanMao), my best support system  
> -[chvnxiaojie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chvnxiaojie), my sooncheol captain  
> -[jeonstellation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeonstellation), my brainstorming partner

''What was the most defining competition in your life?" the female MC asked after she introduced a summary of Soonyoung's career as a professional dancer with a 2 x 2 meter board. 

They were in a TV studio, filming a talk show to be aired next week. Soonyoung came as a guest to accompany Lim Yoona, the popular singer whom Soonyoung collaborated with in her latest MV. Yoona saw Soonyoung's commercials and asked her company to contact the dancer-slash-choreographer. That's how Soonyoung got to meet Yoona, create a choreography and perform with her on her video.

Gesturing to the giant board beside her, the MC added, "Was it the 2019 World Dance Championship in Rome, your first entry to the global scene?" 

Meanwhile, sitting on Soonyoung's right, Yoona chimed in. "Maybe the Tanca Festival?" She turned to Soonyoung as she said, "That's where you met Naoto, right?"

Soonyoung nodded at both ladies. "Yes, meeting Naoto, who became my most frequent collaborator and a good friend, was definitely a turning point. And I wouldn't have been able to start my career if I didn't join my first global contest so yes, 2019 WDF was huge too, but…''

The answer to this question was not something that people would have guessed, and Soonyoung couldn't hold back a chuckle.

"To be honest, the most life changing competition happened when I was in my second year of high school." 

The MC looked like she didn't expect this one bit, but the surprise on her face quickly turned into curiosity.

"You joined a contemporary dance club in high school, you told me." Yoona also seemed interested in Soonyoung's unexpected answer.

''I did, but what I'm talking about is not a dance competition." Soonyoung grinned as he saw the MC and Yoona looking confused.

"It was a basketball game."

*******

# The destined game

# December 2016

This was not how Soonyoung expected to spend his last few days before winter vacation. Classes ended early today because the teachers were having a big meeting and Soonyoung had originally planned to spend the rest of the afternoon in his club room, practicing the choreography for Daegu City Art Festival next month. Already confirmed as the next head of Pledis High School Contemporary Dance Club, Soonyoung had the key to the club room so he could access it anytime he wanted. He also had stayed at school past the allowed time for students often enough for him to know when the guards would patrol and which route he could use to sneak around. With the festival approaching, Soonyoung was itching to get more practice.

And yet now he's at a basketball court in Yeungjin, sitting among Pledis students and fellow citizens at the spectators’ seat. Everyone around him was buzzing with excitement as they waited for the game to start, while Soonyoung had his shoulders hanging low and sulked in silence. He's sacrificing his precious practice session for a match he didn't care about (waste of time) _and_ he had to travel 7 train stops to get here (waste of energy and money).

Soonyoung glanced at the person sitting on his left, a teenage boy with jet black hair and bangs, wearing round glasses in thin frame and faded gold arms. The boy's name was Jihoon, and he's the culprit behind Soonyoung's misery.

''Why did you take me here?" whined Soonyoung, totally ignoring the fact that he was the one who let Jihoon drag him here without bribe or threat. This is the first time his best friend invited him to watch a sports game. Soonyoung couldn’t help but feeling curious.

Jihoon shook his head. "You need a break. So do I. We can't coop ourselves up in our club rooms for too long. We need to get out. Do something different once in a while."

Soonyoung watched Jihoon as he talked and there wasn't anything unusual with the way he did, yet Soonyoung had a hunch. He squinted and said in an accusing tone, "Something's up with you."

Now, after knowing Jihoon for the whole 17 years of his life, Soonyoung already knew that Jihoon didn't have any tell-tale for lying. In fact Jihoon could almost hide his emotions perfectly, with the exception of shyness and embarrassment, which was barely visible through the red tint on the very tip of his ears. Besides that, it was difficult to decipher the thoughts and feelings behind Jihoon’s poker face.

And so Soonyoung would have no proof of Jihoon lying, but he could feel it somehow. Like how he sensed it from Jihoon's invitation to the basketball game today. The normal Jihoon would've preferred to spend this afternoon in the Science Club room, writing a research paper or brainstorming ideas for new experiments.

"It's our school team anyway. What's wrong with showing occasional support." Jihoon dismissed Soonyoung's words by changing the topic to solidarity.

Soonyoung sighed. It's going to be hard digging it out from Jihoon, but he believed that his best friend would let him know sooner or later. They shared many things together and there's not much that they didn't know about each other. The biggest secret of Jihoon that Soonyoung discovered was that Jihoon cannot sleep without his favorite rabbit pillow called "Win". 

"Yeah, yeah." Soonyoung was proud of his school but didn't really care about the sports club. Not just basketball but any of them. He sort of broke his father's heart because his father was a huge baseball fan and had dreamt of playing catch with his son. It's actually part of his fault that Soonyoung grew unfavorable opinion towards sports. When Soonyoung was little his father often played baseball with fellow amateur friends, and when he picked up Soonyoung from daycare, he had some of his friends in the car with him. Everyone was sweating and dirty and the broken air conditioning of Kwon family's old car made everything worse. Little Soonyoung had to bear it until they got all of father's friends home and go home themselves.

His thoughts on sports didn't improve much in high school. The players were actually okay as human beings; yes there were one or two jerks who flaunt their popularity or dissed the art kids as "sissies", but those were the minority. Soonyoung simply didn't "click" with the majority of sport kids.

However, what could’ve been dismissed as difference in interests and cliques grew into something more intense due to the school body's favoritism towards sports clubs and events. The Contemporary Dance club and other non-sports club had to fight hard every year to get their fair share on the Students Council Annual Budget Plan. The grown-ups only acknowledged sports achievements and the student council supported that idea. Soonyoung had experienced the struggle of his club to gather transportation money for a competition in Seoul on his freshman year. They ended up winning a decent third place, but Soonyoung thought they could’ve practiced more if they didn’t have to spend time and energy coming up with plans to get some money.

Long story short, Soonyoung had no interest in coming to this basketball game. Besides, Soonyoung didn't even understand the basic rules of basketball to enjoy the match. He thought that he'd get bored soon and started to look around for the exits in case he ditches the game early. That's when his eyes met with Chan's.

"Hyung!" The first year was walking down the steps with a curly-haired boy, another freshman called Seungkwan, and stopped on his tracks when he recognized Soonyoung. Chan briefly turned to Seungkwan to say something, then pulled him by the hand to sit right below Soonyoung and Jihoon.

Soonyoung wasn't surprised to see his junior here. Chan was a fellow member in the Contemporary Dance club and despite being new, he's one of the closest to Soonyoung because their style of dance and personalities complement each other. Unlike Soonyoung, Chan was more open to "inter-circles" relations within the school and was a… "celebrity", you might say. He and his boyfriend, the theatre club's actor Seungkwan, were active on Instagram, and they definitely wouldn't miss big school events like this game so they could share it with their followers. It was a great thing for the dance club, as Chan would always promote their stages and attract many audience. Soonyoung was a technology-illiterate, couldn't even create an Instagram account (nor that he wanted to), so he just let Chan do it.

And just as expected, Chan took out his phone and started filming the court. He held his phone in his left hand as he moved the hand steadily from the left to the right, before circling his right arm around Seungkwan. With a tap the phone switched to the front camera, and the young couple spoke a few lines about how excited they were to support Pledis in the provincial level match of the 2016 Inter High.

Their heads touched as they bent over Chan's phone and discussed animatedly about the recording.

"Don't use that sticker, it's ugly," Seungkwan protested.

"Hey, I use that a lot!"

"This and yep, that's enough."

"Maybe we should've used filter."

"Let's use it for mine then."

It was Seungkwan's turn to take out his phone and the screen showed he and Chan with floppy ears and large dog nose. They spent several minutes fidgeting their phones but put them back to their pockets when the speaker announced the start of the game.

Their side of the seat went roaring when players in white uniforms came into the court. The fringes of their uniforms and the numbers on their backs were sky blue. Soonyoung vaguely recognized the starting players' faces, three third years and two second years, but knew none of them personally.

Despite knowing nothing about basketball, Soonyoung could feel it. The game was intense right from the start. Seungkwan said that their opponent had been one of the regular representatives of the North Gyeongsang Province in the national competition. Meanwhile their school hadn't been able to get through nationals since 10 years ago. The difference in experience was apparent. 

Pledis players fought hard. The third years put up amazing defense and gave clever passes, while the second years contributed many points with their attacks. At some point in the game, Pledis led by 12 points. Their side of the crowd was ecstatic and cheered even louder. Even Jihoon got excited, hitting his thigh with the empty coke bottle given by the supporters' coordinator and yelling when their sophomore player (the skinnier one) pulled a swift move to get past the opponent and score points. Jihoon came to his senses and glanced at Soonyoung, anticipating judgement, but Soonyoung didn't tease him. He had no time for that, really. The game surprisingly managed to steal his attention.

But then, things started to turn around. Pledis players began to show signs of fatigue and made mistakes. The murmurs around Soonyoung was saying that it was probably because they were not used to such intense game. The opponent utilized the chance to catch up, and by the time one of Pledis' third-year players collapsed, the score difference was down to 3 points.

Pledis changed the player with someone who Soonyoung recognized as a first year, but never bothered to learn his name, only calling the boy inside his head with the name "Sun-smile kid" because of his signature wide smile. The freshman managed to show his beautiful shoot once (Seungkwan said it's called "three-point shoot"), but soon got marked by the opponents, rendering him unable to score more.

The opponent's supporters grew louder, while Pledis' voice went smaller. It was frustrating. Soonyoung felt more irritated at his fellow schoolmates rather than the performance from their players. How could the supporters give off such negative vibe? Why not cheer louder?

Unable to contain his frustration, Soonyoung stood up. He didn't really think, to be honest, and just did what he felt was right, which was screaming at Pledis players with the loudest volume his voice could produce.

"YOU CAN DO IT GO PLEDIIIIIISSS!!!!"

He yelled when everyone on his side of the seat was following the game in silence and dread, so his voice stood out. Soonyoung could feel the stares directed to him, including from the court. Embarrassment creeped in as he sunk bank into his set and he wanted nothing more than to disappear into thin air. But then the audience around him went _roaring_. It seemed that Soonyoung's yell had made something snap inside of them. They all reclaimed their positive energy and poured it into the court. Seeing his schoolmates, Soonyoung didn't hesitate to go back into cheering for their players.

The game didn't get any easier after that, both Pledis and their opponent kept scoring and catching up with each other's points. And finally the persistence paid off when the last whistle was blown and the scoreboard showed 70-66 for Pledis. Soonyoung joined the crowd in an ear-deafening cheer.

Later that day on the train ride home, Soonyoung could still feel the euphoria pounding his chest. As he leaned his body to the window behind, Soonyoung thought that he might grew to like sports just a little bit.

It didn’t cross his mind that he would end up with a lot more than that.

*******

# First lunch

# March 2017

When the new semester started, Soonyoung was filled with excitement. School subjects were gruesome as usual, but he wasn't looking forward to classes. Now a third year student, Soonyoung had officially been entrusted with the Contemporary Dance club as its president. He couldn't wait for their first meeting and talking about choreographies and their next stages together.

So Soonyoung was relieved when the lunch bell rang. Half of the day had passed and he would be able to go to the club room soon. With light steps he went to the cafeteria; Jihoon teased that he'd drop his lunchbox if he kept skipping like that.

They went to their usual table on the left side of the room and put their boxes on top of the long white table top. Soonyoung and Jihoon sat across from each other, and when Chan, Jun, Minghao came, the three of them took the empty spots on Soonyoung's left and Jihoon's right.

Sitting next to Jihoon were Jun and Minghao, fellow members of the Contemporary Dance club. Jun was a senior like Soonyoung, while Minghao was Chan's classmate. Both were from China but very different backgrounds.

Jun came to South Korea around four years ago. His family hopped around many cities at first, making Jun switch schools many times during junior high. They finally settled in Daegu so Jun could experience high school life in one place. He's usually soft-spoken but easily excitable and could get uncontrolled; his infamous laughter could be heard from across the large cafeteria. His dancing style was inspired by traditional Chinese dances and martial arts he trained for as a child, and if Soonyoung had to describe it in one word it would be "elegant". It's fascinating to see Jun giggling like a child one second then moving graciously the next.

Minghao, despite having a family of pure Chinese descent, was no less of a Daegu citizen than Soonyoung. The 17-year-old was born and raised here, spoke (and cuss) like a true Daegu boy, and could navigate himself through all corners of Daegu, knowing the city like the back of his hand. Notorious for being the head of a teenage gang back in junior high, Minghao had an "epiphany" during his last year, found dance, and voluntarily joined the dance club in Pledis HS. His dance had many "faces": at times rough and explosive, the other times controlled and refined, the combination creating dynamic in his movements and forcing people to keep their eyes on him.

As usual, Soonyoung and Jihoon took out their lunchboxes, while Jun, Minghao, and Chan bought meals from the cafeteria. Chan went to the counter twice to buy Seungkwan's share before his boyfriend arrived.

Something out of the ordinary happened when Chan came back for the second time.

At first Soonyoung noticed Jun and Minghao glancing at each other. He thought nothing about it and kept digging into his lunch, but then he saw Jihoon widening his eyes, before bending his head down, trying to continue his meal as natural as possible.

"Uh… is there anything you want from us?" said Chan from his left. Soonyoung turned to him and saw Chan looking _behind_ him, so Soonyoung followed the direction of his gaze.

Standing next to the empty table on Soonyoung's right were five boys carrying meal trays. They all had above average height, and there's one who seemed like he's almost 2-meters tall.

The one who stood at the front had slightly pronounced eye bags, but the deep dimples in his smile and his overall aura suggested that he had a cheerful personality. Soonyoung thought he recognized the boy's face but couldn't put a name to it.

"Hey! Yeah, uhm, actually…" He kept smiling as he struggled with his words. "You don't know us, and we don't know you, but uhm--ouch!"

His body swayed forward as two boys behind him, the 2-meter kid and the one with a high nose bridge, lunged their kneecaps into the back of the talking boy's joint. The boy's tray tilted dangerously to the front, prompting Jihoon to jump closer to Minghao even though there's still quite some distance between them.

Thankfully the dimple boy had good reflexes and saved his lunch from spilling onto the floor, and then he turned towards the culprits.

"Really?!"

The 2-meter boy shrinked (although he's still obviously huge) at the other's protest and pouted. "But we're hungry and you're taking so long...'' It's actually amazing that such a big person could look so childish.

Meanwhile next to him, the boy with the high nose bridge gave a wide grin, showing off his perfectly lined, white teeth, his eyes closed as he laughed, not looking at the least bit guilty. That moment Soonyoung realized that he knew the boy. It's the first year player from last winter's basketball game, the Sun-smile kid. Well, that was last year so now he should be a sophomore.

 _Are you kidding me?_ A worrying suspicion came into Soonyoung's head at the dawn of his realization. _They're all from the basketball team?_ Soonyoung’s body tensed up from the thought. He tried to not show his displeasure on his face, but people often told him that he’s easy to read so he’s not confident. 

Soonyoung hadn’t had any notable interaction with the basketball team up to now. Despite being impressed with their winter game, he hadn’t seen any of their games after that. He was busy with his own club, and his negative sentiment towards the sports club had been revived thanks to this year’s Student Council Budget Plan. There was indeed some budget increase for the non-sports club, but Soonyoung thought it was yet to be considered fair. His dissatisfaction even got him into an argument with the student council treasurer (well, they argued every single year anyway). 

Because Soonyoung was preoccupied with the _"Why are they here?"_ and _"Go away please"_ running around in his head, he belatedly noticed one of the boys coming near the empty bench next to him. It was the boy with slanted eyes, just as small as Soonyoung's, but gave off a stronger impression due to his straightforward gaze and aloof vibe. The type of boy who'd be the cold but popular "Ice Prince" character in the romance comics that Soonyoung's cousin read. Soonyoung recognized him now. It's the player who moved really fast and deceived their opponents with clever maneuvers in that winter game. He should be a third year now just like Soonyoung.

''Is the table taken?" He asked with deep voice and cool tone suiting his appearance.

The senior year had just begun--not even a day had passed--and Soonyoung was already facing a dilemma more complicated than a Chemistry quiz (Soonyoung's ultimate weakness).

His honest answer would be “No, but I don’t want to sit next to you.” Not that he _hated_ them or _discriminated_ against them, gosh, nothing that serious. It's the same thing as Jun picking up and throwing away any onion inside his meals, or Minghao rolling up only one leg of his pants in the summer. That's just how they preferred it. And Soonyoung preferred not having lunch next to a bunch of kids from sports club.

 _How to make them go away without making things complicated?_ Soonyoung had gone through two years of high school making no enemies. Well, there's Mr. Joo the Chemistry teacher, but at least no bad blood with fellow students. He didn't want to start offending anyone now and couldn't think of a way to keep the basket boys off the table without doing so.

That's why Soonyoung had no choice but to say, ''Nah, it's yours." He bit his bottom lip, trying to keep himself from adding unnecessary words. He watched as the Ice Prince nodded before sliding between the bench and the table, taking a seat next to Soonyoung. He was followed by the 2-meter boy and the Sun-smile kid, who left the dimple boy standing.

The dimple boy looked hesitant and stayed standing for a while. As he stood there, the last boy in the group of five, the foreign-looking boy who reminded Soonyoung of a Hollywood actor (somehow he couldn't recall the actor's name at this moment, but he's sure it's a popular actor), walked behind the dimple boy and was about to sit next to Jihoon. His right leg was already up in the air, ready to slip between the bench and the table, but he pulled it back as he looked at his friends who sat on Soonyoung's side. He seemed confused for a few seconds before making a huge O with his mouth. Then he moved himself to the further side of the table and took a seat, leaving an empty space between him and Jihoon. _What was that?_ The wordless communication of the basketball players left Soonyoung confused, but he decided it wasn’t his business. He really didn’t want to know. 

The dimple boy was finally the last one to stand, and he gave a nervous laugh as he took the empty space. ''Thanks guys!" he said, and Soonyoung's friends replied with "Sure" and nods of acknowledgement. 

As soon as the dimple boy got to his seat, Seungkwan arrived at their table. His eyebrows rose up so high that they almost disappeared behind his bangs.

"Vernon?" said Seungkwan to the foreign-looking boy. "Why are you and your team here? I mean, not that I mind, boys," he gave the other kids a smile.

The boy called Vernon just shrugged. "Seungcheol want--ugh!!" he yelped and Soonyoung suspected someone just kicked him under the table.

Vernon spoke again with pain evident in his voice. "Uh… change of environment?"

Seungkwan's eyes glinted, and Soonyoung recognized it as Seungkwan's "I got an idea" look. But the sophomore didn't say anything more than "Well, welcome to our table!" and sat next to his boyfriend. ''Thank you, Channie," he said as he gave Chan a snuggle to thank for the lunch.

''He's my classmate I told you about, the one who drank three cartons of milk and puked at Mr. Kang's class," Seungkwan continued. Chan let out an understanding "Aaah..." while Vernon nodded with a full mouth, not seeming bothered by Seungkwan exposing him like that.

''God that day…'' The dimple boy next to Vernon shook his head. It seemed that Seungkwan's words invoked something unpleasant.

"Oh, was it the day we had practice match with Ryeongnam?" The 2-meter boy chimed in.

"Seriously, at such an important day…'' Dimple boy grimaced at the recollection.

Seungkwan said sympathetically towards the dimple boy, "Must be tough, being a captain of three airheads." The dimple boy gave Seungkwan a thankful look.

_Captain_. So that’s why Soonyoung thought the dimple boy was familiar. It’s Choi Seungcheol, this year’s basketball captain. Soonyoung didn’t have many interactions with the sports club so he often forgot, but he at least he had vague memory of the captains’ names.

"Three?" The 2-meter boy sounded genuinely confused. He turned to the Sun-smile boy who said, "Maybe it's Wonhoo? And Hyuk?"

Seungkwan replied, "Gee, Mingyu, Seokmin. Who could it be?" His tone was sarcastic. While Vernon and the boys called Mingyu and Seokmin still looked confused, Seungcheol laughed. He laughed heartily, making his dimple sunk even deeper. He looked kinda cute, Soonyoung thought. Must be popular, Soonyoung thought and tried not to scoff. Typical. 

What surprised Soonyoung was that the Ice Prince next to him joined in the laughter. It was barely a laugh, more like a snort, but he definitely found humor in Seungkwan's words as his lips curved up. After that laugh, he didn't seem that cold anymore. Maybe it’s just his resting face that looked intimidating, Soonyoung thought as he revised his impression on the boy.

When Seungcheol’s done laughing, he looked over Soonyoung's table and said, "Sorry we haven't introduced ourselves. Seungkwan knows us because--"

"--I know everyone--"

"--right. Well, we're from the basketball team. I'm Seungcheol," the dimple boy introduced himself.

"You were awesome last season," Chan said. "We're rooting for you this year too." Chan's words triggered a flash of Soonyoung's memory and prompted him to connect it with the reality in front of him. It's Seungcheol in blue-striped white-based basket uniform, dashing through the court and charging into opponent's area with power. He was one of the starting players in the game Soonyoung watched last year. Soonyoung almost shook his head at his own silliness. He’s really terrible at remembering anything other than choreography.

"Thank you,” said Seungcheol, “Chan, right?"

"Oh? You know me?" Chan’s eyes lit up. 

"Celebs." Minghao muttered in a not-so-small voice. Jihoon rolled his eyes at Minghao's obvious mockery. Seungkwan gave him a tongue while Chan and Seungcheol chuckled.

"This is Vernon," Seungcheol gestured to the boy beside him before moving on the ones sitting across. "And that's Seokmin, Mingyu, and Wonwoo." Seokmin flashed his signature “sun-smile”, the tallest boy Mingyu waved enthusiastically, while Wonwoo the (former) Ice Prince gave a quick nod. "Wonwoo and I are third-years and the rest are sophomores."

"Great to have you guys on our table," said Seungkwan. "This is my boyfriend, Chan." He wrapped his arms around Chan's left arm. "The best dancer in the Contemporary Dance club." His claim earned a protest from Minghao and laughter from Jun.

Then Seungkwan turned to Soonyoung. "Pres, you can introduce your people," he encouraged. 

Soonyoung tried to not show his reluctance. "This is Jun, a senior, and Minghao--Hao, don't glare--he's a sophomore, and Jihoon's not from our club, he's actually from the Science club."

Seungcheol's eyes glinted in recognition as he looked at Jihoon. "You're in Wonwoo's class aren't you?" He turned to Wonwoo, asking for confirmation with his eyes.

Wonwoo nodded to his captain and then turned to Jihoon, looking at the latter with an unreadable expression. Jihoon froze for a second and Soonyoung could understand that. Wonwoo looked like he could kill people with his eyes if you stare at them too long. 

Soonyoung remembered that he hadn't introduced himself and added, "Oh, and I'm Soonyoung, third year, head of the Contemporary Dance club."

''Dance club…?" The 2-meter Mingyu spoke, as if something clicked inside his brain. "Ooooh, so that's why Seungcheol--"

His words were cut off by a yelp, but it was not from Mingyu himself. It was Seungcheol, who currently had his chin plastered to the table. His hands disappeared and Soonyoung had a hunch that they were gone to tend to his feet. _Did the basketball captain just hit his own feet?_

"S-sorry…." said Seungcheol as he grimaced in pain. He looked away when Soonyoung caught his eyes and seemed to avoid another eye contact after that. Weird. Seungcheol was acting nice and friendly right until just now. Maybe he's just embarrassed to be caught yelling? But this theory was proven wrong. Seungcheol seemed perfectly fine looking at Jun and Minghao as the three of them talked about the best Chinese restaurants in Daegu. So why Seungcheol only avoided him?

Not that Soonyoung wanted Seungcheol to pay attention to him, _ugh no_. It’s just the difference in attitude irked Soonyoung. _Why only him?_ Soonyoung pouted at his plate, but ultimately decided that the basketball captain wasn’t worth his time and continued to enjoy his lunch and chatting with his friends. 

The basketball players joined in the conversation unwelcomed (at least by Soonyoung), but as the chat went on, Soonyoung discovered that Mingyu and Seokmin were not bad (they’re even funny, if he could be honest). Vernon, despite exhibiting peculiar thought patterns that baffled Soonyoung at times, was amusing in a good way and a perfect match to Jun’s randomness. Wonwoo wasn’t talkative but he listened well and gave much more that curt responses when prompted. 

The one thing that dampened Soonyoung’s mood was that Seungcheol was still avoiding Soonyoung’s gaze. _Fine_ , thought Soonyoung as he tried to shrug it off. When it turned out that he failed to let it bother him, Soonyoung became more irritated. Even after he was finally saved from this uncomfortable situation by the school bell, Seungcheol’s face stuck to his mind and kept this bubble of discomfort in his chest. Soonyoung decided he didn’t like the basketball captain.


	2. Chapter 2

# Second lunch

# March 2017

_ They’re here. Again. _

Soonyoung arrived at the cafeteria after his friends because Mrs. Kwan, the dance club advisor, called him to have a short chat about their upcoming stage. It was 15 past 12 when he reached his usual table; what he saw made him almost wanted to turn around and bolt. 

Right next to his table, the five basketball players were sitting and enjoying lunch as if it's what they had always done. On the right side of Soonyoung's empty spot was Wonwoo, followed by Mingyu and Seokmin. Wonwoo seemed to be listening to Seungcheol who's talking with animated hand gestures across the table, next to Jihoon. Beside Seungcheol, Vernon looked engrossed in his plate, eyes focused on every spoon he brought to his mouth. It's the same seating as yesterday.

Soonyoung's steps halted when he's one table away, seriously considering to ditch his friends and sit somewhere else. Unlucky for him, the basketball captain saw him. Their gaze met and Soonyoung saw Seungcheol's eyes wavered for a split second. He thought the captain would pretend not seeing him and ignore him like yesterday; Soonyoung was ready to feel wronged and curse on the fellow senior student inside his head. 

But Seungcheol gave his widest smile and waved his hand enthusiastically, calling Soonyoung's name in an embarrassingly loud voice like Jun's infamous laughter. Oh God.

Soonyoung resumed his steps, praying his fake smile didn't look like a grimace. He's not getting his hopes up though. Enough number of people had told him that he's not good in controlling his expressions except when he's on stage. Soonyoung didn't like that he's so easy to read but there's not much he could do about it.

However, it seemed that he's improved, or maybe Seungcheol was too dense to notice. Soonyoung's reluctance didn't seem to affect the basketball captain, who was enthusiastic in involving Soonyoung in his conversation with Wonwoo when Soonyoung arrived to his seat. There's a lot of attempt of eye contact too. "Attempt" because Soonyoung tried to evade most of them by looking at Wonwoo instead. 

The difference in Seungcheol's attitude compared to yesterday threw Soonyoung off. Well, Soonyoung did complain about Seungcheol avoiding him, but that didn't mean he wanted attention. Plus, Seungcheol didn't even let him have the chance to get his lunch!

Seungcheol's unwanted attention was finally taken away from him when Seokmin quipped from the edge of the table towards Jihoon, who's sitting next to Seungcheol.

"Must be nice to have homemade lunch," the sophomore said longingly as he looked at Jihoon's lunch bag. 

Jihoon, who's not that good at conversations to begin with, seemed to not know how to respond. "It's--uh--just okay, you know."

Seokmin didn’t seem to mind Jihoon’s awkward response and continued. “My Mom gives me so little money. She says we need to save as much as we can. But if that’s the case then why doesn’t she cook? It’ll be much cheaper! I can’t survive with this little lunch,” he said as he stabbed his chopsticks to the pork cutlet in his plate.

“Seokmin.” Seungcheol didn’t yell, and yet his voice clearly demanded obedience. “Where are your manners?” He pointed at the stabbed chopsticks with his eyes. Seokmin heeded the warning and pulled out the chopsticks, saying “Sorry” as he cast his eyes down. With the way Seungcheol was being firm, even Soonyoung felt like he had to apologize too.

The next second, Seungcheol took a piece of cutlet out of his own plate and out it on Seokmin’s, which made the younger boy looked up with sparkling eyes. “Thank youuuu,” said Seokmin before he brought the piece into his mouth and started to eat. Seungcheol looked at his junior with that dimple smile of his, the gap between strict-Seungcheol and smiley-Seungcheol left Soonyoung amazed.

When Seungcheol turned his head, he caught Soonyoung looking and for some reason, almost dropped his chopsticks.

“Uh--do you-uhm, do you want some too?” Seungcheol offered after he composed himself. 

_ Huh? What was that? _

Soonyoung decided he didn't want to know and shook his head. “Nah, I’m good.”

“Where’s your lunch anyway?” Seungcheol tilted his head slightly at the empty space on Soonyoung’s table. Soonyoung gritted his teeth. Who's fault was it that he hadn't have his lunch yet???

The answer to Seungcheol's question was given by Jihoon. “Right. Here.” The bespectacled boy pulled out another box from his bag and put it in front of Soonyoung.

“Thanks.” Soonyoung said to Jihoon. Soonyoung’s mother had to go back to her hometown and left home by bus last night. Being close neighbors, Jihoon’s mother offered to make Soonyoung’s lunch until Soonyoung’s mother comes home. Soonyoung’s father could also cook, but he’s even busier with their shop preparation now that mother’s out of town. Even though Soonyoung could make some simple dishes himself, he liked Jihoon Mom’s cooking so he was grateful.

Soonyoung felt a gaze when he was going to open his lunchbox, but when he looked up, no one was looking at him. Dismissing it as his imagination, Soonyoung continued to open his lunch.

“Wooow your lunch looks real good,” said Mingyu as he extended his long torso over the table to take a look at Jihoon and Soonyoung’s boxes. “Is your home a restaurant or something?” he asked Jihoon.

“No. It's Soonyoung’s.”

“Oh yeah, tteokbokki, right?” Seungcheol chimed in. 

“Tteokbokki! Let’s go some time!” Mingyu exclaimed excitedly, followed by Seokmin and Vernon’s “Let’s go!”

The sophomores’ enthusiasm was contagious, and Soonyoung was more than happy to get new customers. But Soonyoung couldn't help but be bothered by Seungcheol's words. He looked at the basketball captain and said, “How did you know?”

Seungcheol froze under Soonyoung's scrutinizing gaze, but only for a split second before spitting, “Seungkwan! Seungkwan, told me...” 

With that answer, Soonyoung turned to his left, looking at Seungkwan over Chan's body. 

Seungkwan blinked once before giving him a smile. “Yes, I told him. Promotion for your shop.”

“Okay…"

Soonyoung's instinct told him that there's something more behind Seungkwan's words, but he'd never been the one clever enough to uncover hidden meanings. It bothered him but gave up to pursue it further.

Since the topic came up, and because Soonyoung wished for his family business to succeed, he told the basketball players the address of his family's tteokbokki store and promised a discount for their first visit. The moment he said the address, he could feel apprehension as he basically just revealed where he lived to the basket boys (Soonyoung's family lived above the store). He gulped down the feeling and continued his sales talk.

As lunch time progressed, the two tables naturally joined into one big conversation, mostly driven by Chan, Seungkwan, and Jun from Soonyoung's side, and Seungcheol, Mingyu, Seokmin from the other. By the time the bell rang,  Soonyoung found himself laughing along with Mingyu and h i-fiving Seokmin. Yesterday Soonyoung was in denial, but today he had to admit that he was actually having fun chatting with the basket boys. He didn't intend to confess that to the boys though.

There's no way he's saying that out loud. Plus, Vernon still confused him from time to time with his weird, random remarks, and Soonyoung's still having mental whiplash from Seungcheol's change in attitude. 

By the end of their second lunch together, Soonyoung found himself unable to decide whether he liked the company of the basket boys.

*****

# The case of tteokbokki & spilled water

It had been two weeks since the five basketball players invaded Soonyoung's table in the cafeteria. Well, it's not  _ Soonyoung's _ table in the first place, but he'd been sitting in the area with his friends for all lunches since he was a sophomore! 

For the whole first week Soonyoung automatically frowned at the sight of the intruders at his table. But by the end of the second week, he began to see the basket boys taking their seats without even batting an eyelid. It's fascinating but also a bit scary how fast humans can adapt to their situation.

However there's one thing Soonyoung couldn't quite adapt to. Someone, to be exact.

"Oh, did you meet Seungcheol yesterday?" Chan asked Soonyoung after their Monday after-school practice ended. Soonyoung jolted at the mention of the basketball captain. He's not going as far as to call it  _ hate _ , but there's something about Seungcheol that made him.... uncomfortable…….

Aside from that first lunch, Seungcheol had been actively trying to engage Soonyoung in conversations. With him sitting diagonally across Soonyoung and right next to Jihoon, it's easier for Seungcheol to chat with him compared to Seokmin at the very edge of Soonyoung's side. It's also easy for their gaze to meet; Soonyoung's stomach did a flip every time they did and he's not enjoying this at all. And it's not fair that Soonyoung seemed to be the only one feeling awful. Seungcheol just flashed him that bright, dimple-full smile of his when their eyes met and didn't look bothered the slightest bit. 

What's worse is how Jun sometimes would look at Soonyoung and Seungcheol with some kind of weird fascination that Soonyoung couldn't understand. He thought of asking but didn't and just let Seungkwan (sometimes Chan) tell Jun off for staring. 

That's why Soonyoung was sensitive at the mention of Seungcheol's name. He tried not to show it to Chan, who stopped by the club room door and dropped down to tie his left shoe. 

"What?" Picking up his sling bag, Soonyoung turned to Chan.

Chan just finished tying up his shoe then stood up. He reached for his right pants pocket to take out his phone, fiddled with it for a bit then showed the screen to Soonyoung. There was a photo of Seungcheol, a selfie it seemed, with a plate of tteokbokki--the soy sauce flavor--in front of him. The picture had a "Best tteokbokki in Daegu!" written on it, and also a white bar with "Kwon Tteokbokki" in purple text.

_ Huh? _

Soonyoung grabbed Chan's phone and tried to look closer, but the photo disappeared with a slide, changed with another photo of a girl, Soonyoung and Chan's club senior who graduated last year. Then the screen slid again, now showing a boy Soonyoung recognized as a theatre club member. 

"Why does the screen keep switching?? I'm not touching anything!" Soonyoung said in frustration. He had never been good with technology, only using his smartphone for chatting, calling, and taking pictures. Minghao said he could've used a good old flip phone, but Soonyoung liked his smartphone's camera despite not being able to do much with it.

Chan took his phone and slid his thumbs over the screen. "It's Instagram story. You have to hold it so it won't slide to another story," he said as he turned the phone screen towards Soonyoung, his forefinger pressing onto the glass. Soonyoung didn't really understand what Chan just said, but what mattered was that now Seungcheol's photo was back on the screen. 

With the photo staying still, Soonyoung could see the details: the plates, table, and counter behind Seungcheol, Soonyoung recognized all of them. He could even see a glimpse of his father's head on the right corner.

Seungcheol was at his house.

Choi Seungcheol the basketball captain was  _ at his house. _

Still trying to process this information, Soonyoung said to Chan, "I was at my aunt's, helping my cousin moving out..."

Soonyoung had not been at home for the most of yesterday so he didn't know. Seungcheol also didn't mention it during lunch today.

_ He could've told me… _ thought Soonyoung with a tinge of disappointment. After all, he did promise a discount. 

When Soonyoung arrived home that day, he stopped by the shop and asked his parents if there was anyone from his school yesterday. 

"There were teenagers but they're all in casual clothes and no one said anything to us," said his father. "Or did they greet you, Mom?" 

"No," Soonyoung's mother said. "Introduce your friend when you bring them here, okay? We'll give them extras."

So Seungcheol came and didn't bother to tell him? Soonyoung frowned at the fact.

The next morning Soonyoung saw Seungcheol when he had just changed his shoes into slippers. The basketball player was already in his black slippers, walking through the corridor next to the lockers.

Soonyoung's first reaction was to open his mouth, trying to call the fellow senior. But before he could say Seungcheol's name, realization struck him and he suddenly felt shy. He's not even sure why he twisted his neck and looked around. None of the students in the entrance was paying attention to him, and Soonyoung felt kind of stupid for being so self-conscious. 

Brushing off unnecessary thoughts, Soonyoung approached the corridor and called Seungcheol's name before the latter disappeared beyond the lockers.

“Seungcheol!”

The fellow senior  looked surprised but gave Soonyoung his brightest dimple smile. Soonyoung's stomach churned as he walked into the corridor and arrived in front of the waiting Seungcheol. 

"You came to my place.” Soonyoung regretted his vague wording the moment the words left his lips. Seungcheol came to his family's restaurant. Nothing to get blushing about! Soonyoung cursed himself internally for getting warm in the cheeks.

Seungcheol’s eyes widened for a bit before he said, “Yeah, it was great. Your tteokbokki, I mean.”

It was great to hear praise about his family's tteokbokki. He's also thankful that Seungcheol actually gave it a try. So Soonyoung didn't feel forced when he said, “You should’ve told me you’re coming. We can get you a discount or extras, but not both.”

“Well...” Seungcheol’s eyes flickered around, and for the first time since their first lunch together, Seungcheol avoided Soonyoung's gaze.

Soonyoung could hear Seungcheol mumbling something that sounded like “You haven’t...” but it was too small to catch the rest of it and the bell was ringing. He was curious about what Seungcheol was trying to say, but neither of them should be here in the corridor any longer.

“Anyway, come when I’m at home, okay?” Soonyoung said as he started to walk away.

Seungcheol looked stunned for a second before he took quick steps and followed.

“Can I?” The basketball captain widened his eyes. He looked kind of childish and funny, Soonyoung couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Of course.”

“So, uhm, when are you home?”

Soonyoung quickly scanned his memory and said, “I’m helping the shop this weekend.”

“Great! I’ll be there!” Seungcheol's voice and gaze conveyed genuine excitement, and Soonyoung found himself looking forward to it too. Maybe he was influenced by Seungcheol's enthusiasm, he reasoned, and he tried to not show it by faking a lukewarm “Cool.”

They separated to get to their own classes and didn’t see each other again until lunch. In the afternoon Seungcheol seemed to be in a very good mood, humming in between chewing his meal and giving Seokmin some of his lunch with twice the usual amount. He just grinned when Mingyu and Jun asked what’s up and didn’t get annoyed when Minghao and Seokmin teased him. Whatever happened, Soonyoung didn’t know, but it was funny to know that the charismatic captain had a silly side like this.

The basketball captain was not the only one acting unusual today.  What's stranger than Seungcheol's sudden good mood was Soonyoung's own best friend.

After two weeks of not showing displeasure at their new lunch seating arrangement, for some unknown reason today Jihoon tried to slide himself away from Seungcheol. He adamantly kept his gaze towards Minghao and Jun's side. Not just Seungcheol, he's not even looking at Soonyoung when they talked, insisting on staring at his lunch box.

From what Soonyoung had seen the past two weeks, Jihoon didn't seem to mind sitting next to Seungcheol, even engaging in a few conversations. So why? Questions came up inside Soonyoung's head and he decided to get the answers later. He knew that his best friend wouldn't like to have his issues discussed in that time and place, and definitely not with everyone present. At least Jihoon's still talking to him.

“Soonyoung,” Jihoon said in between Minghao and Seokmin’s jokes that cracked up the whole table. “Pass me the soy sauce, will you?” He's still not looking up from his plate.

Soonyoung tried to help his friend and looked to his right side, the place where he last put the sauce, but the glass bottle was already picked up by Wonwoo, who's sitting next to Soonyoung, and put right into Jihoon’s waiting hand.

It would be understandable to get surprised by the suddenness of the action, but even so, Jihoon’s reaction was odd. The bespectacled boy pulled his right hand so fast that it knocked the soy sauce bottle over, toppling the unfastened lid to the other side of the table. The black liquid was spilled on the white surface and on Seungcheol's plate.

The mess didn’t stop there, as his elbow made contact with Minghao’s aluminum bottle, making it hit the table with a clank and spilling water all over the table in front of Minghao.

“Oh God,” Jihoon twisted his body to the right and left as he apologized to the two boys who became victims of this accident. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t—“

“Hey, it’s fine!” Seungcheol was still smiling despite his lunch getting poured with soy sauce. He took the cleaning cloth that Chan threw at him and started wiping the table. “At least I didn’t get anything on my clothes,” he said cheerily.

Jihoon didn’t look less sorry and tried to take the cleaning cloth from Seungcheol’s hand, but stopped when Minghao cursed behind him.

“What the fuck?!”

Minghao stood up from his seat. The front of his pants and the edge of his untucked shirt were wet.

“Hao, I’m sorry, I—“ Jihoon paused when Seungkwan threw him a handkerchief. He took the piece of fabric and was about to dab it on Minghao’s shirt, but the sophomore brushed him off.

“Just wipe the table.”

Jihoon winced at Minghao's curt response but didn't protest. “Okay, sorry.”

“Nah,” Minghao sighed. He was still frowning, but didn’t seem like he’s mad anymore. It’s not exactly rare for him to curse; he’s probably just startled. Besides, he’s not the type who would hold a grudge for something like this.

“My fault too. Didn’t close the damn lid," the Daegu-born Chinese said as he shook his head. It did made Jihoon's tense shoulders relax a bit.

“Hao, you can’t go to class like that,” Soonyoung said. “Anyone got extra shirt and pants?” He said hopefully to the basketball players. He knew that his club members had comfortable clothes for dancing ready in their lockers, but none of them brought extra uniforms.

“’s fine, Soonyoung. It’s just water, it’ll dry off.”

“Yeah, but you look like you just pissed your pants,” Jun chimed in, not exactly helping, but at least it convinced Minghao to change his mind.

“I have spares,” Mingyu offered and stood up from his seat. He left the table to go get his bag. Minghao followed after taking the blazer Soonyoung gave and wrapped it around his waist.

When the two sophomores got back, they were welcomed with laughter. Even though Minghao’s height was above average, Mingyu was even taller and considerably bigger. Drowned in Mingyu's uniform, Minghao glared at them, but said nothing as he went back to his seat. Jihoon, the only one who didn't laugh beside Wonwoo, gave Minghao another guilty look. That's when Minghao finally stopped glaring and responded with a shake of his head and resigned chuckle. 

Seungkwan joked that Jihoon would be beaten to a pulp if it had been the old Minghao, and the table lit up as they talked about the legends surrounding the former gang leader. Soonyoung contributed to the topic, as he's also a long time Daegu citizen and knew quite a lot about Chongnam JHS' Mad Dragon despite not attending the same school.

But in the middle of the chat, Soonyoung came to realize that Mingyu had been strangely quiet. Even  _ Wonwoo _ talked more than him, and that said a lot considering Wonwoo mostly just listened and only said 3-4 short sentences in a conversation.

When the lunch time was almost over and they all stood up to get back to class, Soonyoung overheard Mingyu and Seokmin talking in front of him.

“...I don’t get your taste, man.” Seokmin said as he shook his head.

Mingyu let out a dreamy sigh. “Those lanky limbs… They're like twigs! I wonder how it feels to have them stabbing my—“ 

“Hey, hey!” Seokmin hissed. “I don’t want to hear your creepy fantasies!” He gave Mingyu a repulsed look. “You’ll be dead anyway. He’s a gang leader, are you crazy?” 

_What?_ Soonyoung thought in shock as he strained his ears. _Could_ _they be talking about...?_

“Former gang leader. A  _ hot _ , former gang leader.” The slight infatuation in Mingyu’s voice brought goosebumps to Soonyoung’s neck.

“....Is it the 'opposites attract' thing? You like skinny guys because you’re big?”

“Well I—“

“Hold up,” Soonyoung slipped between the two and made the sophomores stop on their tracks. He couldn't bear to just listen and do nothing. Turning his head to Mingyu, Soonyoung said, “Did you peek on my junior changing clothes?”

Mingyu widened his eyes and blurted, “What? No!!” His eyes glazed a little as he seemed hurt by Soonyoung’s accusation. “He didn’t even warn me before he strip inside my class, I—I didn’t know, he just did and I was there so I saw...”

Now feeling a bit guilty, Soonyoung understood the situation. It was indeed Minghao-esque to just change his clothes without caring about who's watching.

Soonyoung told Mingyu that he believed him, but warned not to do anything that invades Minghao’s privacy. Mingyu, still with teary eyes, promised that he would do no such thing. Soonyoung did actually believe the kid. Since knowing the center player of Pledis basketball team, Soonyoung had seen that he was a pure kid. Sometimes too pure that it's borderline dumb. Along with Seokmin (dumber), the duo lit up the cafeteria table with the silliness and Soonyoung enjoyed their company (not that he would ever admit that to the boys).

Still, the fact that the gigantic basketball was crushing on his club member stuck to Soonyoung's mind for the rest of the day. Feeling somewhat restless, Soonyoung told Jihoon about it on the train ride home that day. 

"Imagine if they got together!" Soonyoung huffed. "Not that Minghao would let that happen, for sure." 

Sitting on his left, Jihoon responded with his usual nonchalant manner, "So? What if they do?"

Soonyoung paused. He didn't know the answer, to be honest. He just felt, somehow, that it wasn't  _ right _ . 

"Well, he's a basketball player. Minghao's a dancer," he said. Even he could hear the uncertainty in his own voice.

"Are you still mad the Council gave them more budget," Jihoon stated instead of questioning.

"I--" This topic always managed to irk Soonyoung and he replied with a pout. "That's another matter, but yes I will keep fighting for the art clubs who always get unfair treatment." Each club in Pledis High School proposed their budget to the Student Council, and there would be a meeting to decide the allocation. Soonyoung saw that the final budgeting always favored the sports club than the others, including the Contemporary Dance club and also Jihoon's Science club. 

Jihoon scoffed a "Good luck with that" before continuing with a flat tone. "The basket boys. You seem fine having lunch with them the past  two weeks." His best friend was absolutely right and Soonyoung didn't like it.

''It's just lunch."

"So?" 

"That's different from  _ dating _ them."

To be honest, Soonyoung didn't know exactly how it would be different. Unfortunately for him, Jihoon could see right through him.

"How's it different?" 

"It just is."

"You never dated before, how would you know."

_ Oh no he didn't!  _ Soonyoung pouted at his best friend. It was true that Soonyoung had no experience in relationships. The story of his love life only consisted of two people. First is Minhee, a girl from elementary school who used to chase Soonyoung around. Actually Soonyoung kinda liked her, but he was too embarrassed about it so he always ran away. Then there's Jane from junior high whom Soonyoung used to look at from afar. Soonyoung was her silent admirer for the whole second year and didn't say a word about it. Now that they went to different schools after graduation, there's not a single soul aside from Jihoon who knew Soonyoung ever had a crush on her. 

Despite his inexperience being a fact, Soonyoung didn't like it to be brought up. Especially by Jihoon.

"You never dated either!"

At Soonyoung's annoyed remark, Jihoon laughed, but no sound came out as he considered their location. Even so, Jihoon looked like he had the best time of his life by arguing with (teasing) Soonyoung. His mouth was wide open and his body shook until his glasses slid to the tip of his nose. 

''Anyway," Jihoon fixed his glasses. "Instead of thinking about Minghao, you should think about yourself." 

Soonyoung twisted his neck to give his best friend a confused look. 

"What about me?" He scrunched his forehead as he tried to decipher the meaning of Jihoon's words. Somehow it felt like a set of code, the one that only Soonyoung couldn't crack. He hated being out of loop like this.

Jihoon raised his eyebrows and looked at him as if he had just said the most ridiculous thing. Eventually Jihoon just shrugged and didn't try to explain even though Soonyoung tried to shake it out of his body. In the end he didn't get any answer and even forgot to ask Jihoon about his strange behavior at lunch today. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side pairings are coming (and yes it's plural) but I won't update the tags until much later.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's short compared to the first 2 chapters but I hope you enjoy it ^^

# The visit

Saturday that week, Soonyoung woke up at 8 and helped his parents at the shop. The tteokbokki store had part-timers, but the main staff were only his parents, so another helping hand was always welcome.

Watching his parents moving around the store with brisk steps and focused gaze, Soonyoung felt his chest warm with gratitude. Despite Soonyoung being their first son, they never forced him to help or planned on making him succeed the business. The couple understood Soonyoung’s passion for dance and had been supportive all along. That was exactly why Soonyoung wanted to help the store on weekends. It’s the least he could do.

So Soonyoung spent the whole morning in the kitchen: preparing ingredients, doing the dishes. Later in the afternoon he also went out for deliveries. He had been working all the time, only resting once for lunch, until around 3PM his father showed up in the kitchen.

“Your friend’s here,” the old man said.

Question mark popped up in Soonyoung’s head as he didn’t remember having a friend coming. When he approached the table near the front door and saw a familiar face, he recalled the conversation he had with a certain basketball captain a few days ago. 

Seungcheol sat on a table for two with his body facing Soonyoung’s direction, but he had his gaze to his right; there’s a little girl, maybe 6 or 7 years old, sitting on the table next to Seungcheol. The girl opened her mouth obediently when her mother brought a spoonful of tteokbokki, but she kept glancing at the Seungcheol as she chewed. Her plump cheeks and wide eyes were adorable, Seungcheol seemed to be captivate an returned the glances with his signature dimple smile. Soonyoung couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

It helped Soonyoung moving towards Seungcheol’s table with relaxed steps, but when Seungcheol took his gaze away from the little girl and turned his head, their eyes met and Soonyoung immediately froze. Somehow the way Seungcheol’s eyes sparkled and his smile growing wider brought a tingle through Soonyoung’s body. Holding back a shiver, Soonyoung tried to bring his feet to move again.

“You came!” He said as he arrived in front of Seungcheol’s table, praying hard his nervousness didn’t show up on his face. Why was he nervous anyway? It’s just Choi Seungcheol!

Still with sparkling eyes, Seungcheol gave his usual gummy smile. “Yeah. Ordered myself the same as last time.”

Soonyoung nodded as he took a seat across the captain. He noticed the black sports bag under Seungcheol’s chair and was filled with a surge of relief. He could use this as a topic for conversation and hopefully it’s not going to be awkward. Mentally, he’s crossing his fingers because this was the first time he and Seungcheol “hanging out”, plus none of their friends were here to save them from potential awkwardness. 

Soonyoung tried to gulp down his worries and opened the topic with a question. “Got practice today?”

Seungcheol nodded. “Preparing for practice match with Seonghyeon next week.”

Soonyoung recognized the name of their neighbouring high school. Mr. and Mrs. Park’s only girl from next door went to school there. It didn’t have a dance club and that’s all that mattered to Soonyoung. 

“Are they good?” he asked.

“They hadn’t been in anyone’s radar for years, but according to our manager’s intel, we should keep an eye on them this year,” Seungcheol said. His gummy smile was gone and was replaced with a rather serious look. Soonyoung could feel the captain’s earnestness and it tugged his heart. He knew how it felt to be passionate about something and it’s kind of impressive to see the gummy-smile Seungcheol showing this side of him.

Soonyoung belatedly realized that he was staring, but thankfully Seungcheol didn’t realize as he continued to tell Soonyoung about his next opponent and team’s condition. Relieved that he wasn't caught, Soonyoung tuned in to Seungcheol's words and showed his interest by giving remarks here and there.

Eventually Seungcheol’s story was cut when a part-time staff came to deliver a plate of brown tteokbokki. It’s the soy sauce flavor.

“You like that one?” Soonyoung asked as he watched Seungcheol eat. The latter gave him a nod.

“You should try our original too,” Soonyoung suggested. He waved to the part-time staff and spoke again, “Let me get it for you. It’s on the house.”

Seungcheol tried to tell Soonyoung that the soy sauce one was enough, but Soonyoung insisted. So another plate was brought to the table, this time the rice cakes were blazing red.

The two boys continued to chat as Seungcheol finish the tteokbokki. It was almost 5pm when the two plates were wiped clean and Seungcheol excused himself from the store. Watching Seungcheol's back moving away from the shop, Soonyoung wondered how did they spent t _wo hours_ there (and why didn't his parents call him to get back to work). He concluded that it was because Seungcheol was taking his time to finish the tteokbokki, but somewhere in the corner of his head, a voice told him how much fun they had chatting, and how he wouldn't mind doing it again.

Heat crept to his cheeks. Soonyoung dismissed it as the effect of taking some of Seungcheol's spicy tteokbokki and walked back to the kitchen.

*****

# His lie and his guilt

Soonyoung didn’t see Seungcheol when he arrived at the cafeteria on Monday afternoon. Wonwoo said the basketball club advisor called the captain to talk about their upcoming practice match with Seonghyeong High School. Everyone else was having their lunches and conversations as usual, while Soonyoung was wondering why the empty space next to Jihoon bothered him.

Soonyoung tried to distract himself by joining in the conversation going on at the table, and at some point the topic became Soonyoung's tteokbokki store.

"You guys should come over sometimes," said Soonyoung to the basketball players. "Seungcheol did and he said it's good." He mentioned their captain's name with the hope of convincing them.

However, their responses were nothing like Soonyoung had expected. 

Vernon's eyebrows raised so high, they almost disappeared under his bangs. "Seungcheol? Really?"

"I can't take his recommendation seriously," said Seokmin, followed by Mingyu's "Right" and a chuckle.

Finding their reactions funny, Soonyoung said sarcastically. "Wow, you have so much trust in your captain." 

"Hey, it's Seungcheol," Seokmin said as he shook his head with exaggerated solemness. "There's just no way."

"Maybe he had the cheese or soy sauce," Wonwoo chimed in with his deep, steady voice. His remark was responded by an "Aaaaah….'' by his teammates. They seemed to be satisfied by Wonwoo’s suggestion.

But when Soonyoung said, "He tried our soy sauce and original," the basketball players looked at him as if he had just said the most ridiculous thing in the world.

Before Soonyoung could ask what was it about, Wonwoo turned his head towards him and said, "Seungcheol's bad with spicy food." Wonwoo’s gaze was his usual sharp one, which looked scary at first, but Soonyoung had come to accept as Wonwoo’s normal gaze. There’s not a hint of mischief in those orbs, and Wonwoo wasn’t exactly a person who’s known to make a joke.

It got the gears inside Soonyoung's brain working, digging up the memories of Seungcheol visit. Seungcheol initially rejecting Soonyoung's offer of original spicy tteokbokki. Seungcheol ordering many glasses of water…

 _Oh God_. Seungcheol _tried_ to avoid the spicy flavor, but ate a whole plate because Soonyoung _insisted_. Soonyoung should’ve noticed from the many glasses of water Seungcheol had that afternoon, but the basketball captain said he didn't want to get dehydrated after practice and it didn’t cross Soonyoung’s mind to doubt him.

Soonyoung felt a lump of guilt forming inside his chest.

"Where's your shop?" Seokmin asked.

Soonyoung took a while to answer as various thoughts went running inside his head. "Buknae-dong," he said finally.

"Oh, that's close!” Seokmin beamed. “I actually go through there on my way home."

Meanwhile Mingyu frowned. "Isn't that like the opposite side of Seungcheol's?" he said with obvious confusion.

Soonyoung turned his head towards the tallest guy at the table and widened his eyes. "Really?" 

"Yeah, he lives at Dalseong."

There was an awkward silence as everyone gave him _a look_. Soonyoung didn’t understand what they’re trying to convey but he desperately wished they would stop. Despite being passionate about performing on stage, he’s never comfortable with attention he got _off_ the stage.

The end of lunch hour almost ended when Seungcheol came to their table. Almost everyone (sans Wonwoo and Minghao) gave him a look. That look they gave to Soonyoung earlier. This time he’s not the target of that look, but it made Soonyoung squirming in his seat. 

Oblivious to everyone's stares, Seungcheol gave his teammates a briefing about his talk with their advisor. When he finished, he turned his head towards Soonyoung's table.

"Come watch our game! It's this Saturday," he looked at them with sparkling eyes. Soonyoung’s friends accepted the invitation with jolly "Sure!" and “Okay!” as they stole glances at Soonyoung. Seriously, why did they keep doing that! 

Soonyoung felt himself getting red with irritation but then Seungcheol turned his head towards him. He recognized hope in the captain’s wide eyes and it made his cheeks felt warm with something other than annoyance. Soonyoung wasn’t sure what it was.

"We got practice…" Soonyoung found it difficult to keep his eyes on Seungcheol's so he turned to his club mates. "For Daegu Art Week. Right guys?" 

He didn't dare to look straight at Seungcheol when the captain said it's okay and how he hoped they could drop by a bit after the dance practice. Seungcheol's voice sounded a bit sad and it made Soonyoung groan internally. How many times must he feel guilty for Seungcheol today???


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a very, very late update and I have no excuse.

# The practice match

Soonyoung didn't mean to go near the gym. He was planning on taking a quick break before going back to his club room. The dance practice had ended and everyone else went home, but Soonyoung wanted to practice a bit more on his own. Somehow his friends thought he was staying behind for an entirely different reason.

“Tell them that I’m sorry I can’t watch the game,” Chan said as he typed furiously into his phone just by using his left thumb. His right hand was occupied with putting on his shoes. “I got a date.”

Minghao said something about helping with family matter at home and asked Soonyoung to record video if Mingyu and Seokmin do anything stupid at the court. Meanwhile Jun excused himself to meet a friend visiting from China. Soonyoung stared at his friends and protested.

"I'm not going to watch the game!" Soonyoung didn't know why he flustered, yet he couldn't help it.

"Why not?" Jun said. "Practice is over."

“I said I’m going to practice.”

Chan looked up from his phone only to give Soonyoung a fake sad look. “Don’t waste Seungcheol’s goodwill like that.”

“Well why don’t you all come watch too?” Soonyoung whined, but Chan glanced at his phone and hurriedly went out of the room.

"You'll be our representative," replied Jun instead. He patted Soonyoung's right shoulder and waved goodbye.

Minghao followed with,"We're not the ones he wishes to come watch anyway." 

"Wha--" Soonyoung's cheek blushed. "Seungcheol invited all of you!" he insisted. Minghao merely raised his left eyebrow and patted Soonyoung's right shoulder as he passed by. 

Left alone, Soonyoung did practice dancing… For 10 minutes… Now he's out of the club room and standing at the open corridor between two buildings. Going straight forward would lead him back to his club room, while going left would bring him to the gym.

Soonyoung stood there as he pondered: why was he hesitating? Why did he feel embarrassed when his friends suggested that Seungcheol wanted him to see him play? It's perfectly normal to want your friend to support you, right? But were they even friends? Well yeah, they hung out together at lunch but did that mean they're buddies? 

_Friends_. Something about that word filled Soonyoung's chest with lumps of restlessness. Jihoon had reminded him about being too judgemental with the sports kids, but did Soonyoung really dislike them that much to hate the notion of being friends with them?

 _That's not it_. A voice in the corner of Soonyoung's head told him, but before he could listen more and get some answers, he saw something that caught his attention. His best friend Lee Jihoon walking on the corridor in Soonyoung’s right. He didn’t expect to see Jihoon here right now, and before he could think any better, he called his best friend’s name.

"Jihoon?"

Jihoon was already crossing past the intersection when Soonyoung called his name.The science club member stopped in his tracks and turned around. As Soonyoung approached him, he could see that Jihoon looked slightly stiff. It reminded Soonyoung to when they were 5 years old, Jihoon wanted to take a closer look at a set of beakers being displayed at the late Mr. Bae's, their neighbour. Little Jihoon was way shorter than the shelf, his hand barely reaching the top. He accidentally pulled the tablecloth when trying to reach the beakers, making the whole set topple and crash to the floor. His face when their mothers rushed over to check on the ruckus, that's the face he's showing now.

"Hey," Jihoon greeted him, trying to be casual. "Done with practice?"

"Everyone's gone home…" Soonyoung didn't explain much because he's more interested in Jihoon. "What are you doing here?" He couldn’t help the prying tone in his voice, even though he knew that if Jihoon had something to hide, he wouldn’t open up that easily. At least not here in school.

Jihoon averted his eyes for a split second. "Club thing, you know." 

It was actually quite normal for Jihoon to spend his spare time at the Science club. Just like Soonyoung, he's very passionate about his extracurricular activity. Yet this time Soonyoung sensed Jihoon wasn’t telling the whole truth. The Science club was in the opposite direction of where Jihoon seemed to be heading. There's only the gym in that direction…

It hit Soonyoung that Jihoon might be going to where Soonyoung was heading too, and he didn’t know what to do about it. It’s not like Jihoon would judge him for going to watch a basketball game. Yet somehow Soonyoung felt self-conscious about it, he didn’t even want his best friend to know. How weird was that?

Before he could make a run from this situation, another voice was heard from the direction of the gym.

"Soonyoung! Jihoon!" Oh God. Soonyoung recognized the voice and the owner was not someone he wished to encounter right now.

Turning to his left, Soonyoung saw Seungcheol heading towards them, slightly running. He had beads of sweat on his face and his arms peeking out of his white-blue uniform. A huge smile on his face, showing off his gums.

"You guys came to watch?" Seungcheol asked. The way his eyes sparkled made Soonyoung feel bad for saying no. A glance towards Jihoon told him that his best friend also didn't have the heart to refuse. That's why the two best friends nodded and followed the captain into the gym. 

Their opponent today, Seonghyeong High School, was wearing black uniform with red lines at the rims. The ten players’ figure were on the leaner side, one of the starting players was even as skinny as Minghao. None were as tall as Mingyu. But Soonyoung remembered Seungcheol saying that Seonghyeong might be a formidable rival in the future.

The prediction was proven true. Despite Pledis leading the first few minutes of the game, Seonghyeong caught up slowly but sure. They made up their lack of power with wit, showing attacks and defences that managed to catch Pledis players by surprise.

As Seonghyeong scored another two points, making the two teams' score equal in 31 points, Captain Seungcheol yelled encouragement to his members. His smile looked composed, exuding a different vibe than the usual carefree and rather childish laugh Soonyoung saw at the cafeteria table. A side of Seungcheol he hadn't seen before. 

Maybe the novelty of it that made Soonyoung removed his eyes from the basket ball and followed the captain instead. His gaze never left Seungcheol, taking in each movement and changes on the captain's face. At first Soonyoung didn't even realize he was staring, and when he did, the heat of embarrassment crept up his cheeks. He turned to Jihoon on his right; thankfully his best friend seemed to be focused on the game, eyes fixed to the court. 

Turning his attention back to the match, Soonyoung saw Seungcheol surging into the opponent's side with the ball in his hand. Seonghyeong's defence rushed to meet him. Soonyoung didn't understand what happened next. It was too fast for Soonyoung's brain to register; one blink Seungcheol was turning his body around his opponent, there's a loud squeak from shoes against the floor, and the next blink, Seungcheol was down on his left side.

"!!!!" 

Soonyoung gasped loudly and automatically stood up from his seat. He couldn't move a limb and watched anxiously as Seungcheol was pulled up by the Seonghyeong player while his team members and referee approached them. Seungcheol checked his own body and turned to the people around him with a smile. He was also smiling when talking to the Seonghyeong player and patted the latter on the arm before moving into position to make a free throw. That's when Soonyoung finally let go of the breath he didn't realize he was holding, knees slightly weak as he returned to his seat.

Next to him, Jihoon mumbled, ''Thank God he's fine." Jihoon's voice sounded genuinely relieved. The fact that his best friend was also worried for Seungcheol made Soonyoung less self-conscious about his own reaction earlier. 

The first half of the game ended with Pledis leading only by 3 points. As the players left the court for a 15-minute break, Soonyoung went out to look for a drink. The intense game made him exhausted and the thought of a refreshing isotonic drink made him move his legs. He offered Jihoon but the latter said he's not thirsty so Soonyoung went on his own. 

There's a vending machine right beside the gym so it didn't take long for Soonyoung to get the drink. With a can of cold Pocari Sweat in his right hand, he turned back on his heels and was about to head back to the gym. He almost dropped the can when he Seungcheol approaching from the opposite direction. The captain showed a wide, contagious smile and Soonyoung couldn't help but mirror it despite feeling nervous.

"Soonyoung," said Seungcheol. "Thank you. For coming."

Minghao's words at the club room earlier crossed Soonyoung's mind and he found himself no longer able to look at Seungcheol straight in the eyes.

"Eh, it's nothing." He tried to sound casual about it, but apparently it wasn’t the same for Seungcheol.

"It means a lot. To me." There’s something in Seungcheol’s voice that made Soonyoung return his gaze to the captain. He saw Seungcheol’s eyes wavering, but they eventually fixed on Soonyoung. 

"Having you come to support."

The weight in his voice. The depth in his eyes. Soonyoung wanted to look away. All the cells in his body was screaming at him to run. Get out from here. He felt weird, like there’s a lump of something hot and gooey inside his chest. This didn’t feel comfortable. He hated it. Yet his feet were rooted to the spot, eyes unable to look away.

"Come on, you have lots of supporters."

Soonyoung’s attempt to make light of it didn't work as Seungcheol shook his head. "Your support means a lot." Seungcheol's smile turned somewhat bashful and Soonyoung’s heart churned at the sight. 

It got worse when Seungcheol said, "Last year's game, your cheer helped me big time." 

_Oh my God._ _Did he finally find out about that winter game??_

That one basketball game Soonyoung watched when he was a sophomore, he found out later that Seungcheol and Wonwoo were one of the starting players. They were out on the court that day, along with Seokmin who replaced the third-year that collapsed. When Soonyoung found out, he was so embarrassed, but none of the basketball players on their table had mentioned it, so he thought no one knew.

Apparently he was wrong.

“I--it was nothing…” Soonyoung tried not to stutter and failed miserably. His cheeks felt _burning_ now and he prayed hard that it wouldn't show, though he wouldn’t get his hopes up. God, why was he only good in controlling his expression on stage??

“I think the whole arena could hear you,” Seungcheol laughed, not so quietly. His eyes lit up and his mouth opened wide, showing his gums. Soonyoung’s cheeks went even warmer and he pouted in protest.

Seungcheol’s laughter stopped abruptly when his eyes landed on Soonyoung’s face. Soonyoung had no idea why, but Seungcheol suddenly averted his gaze and _blushed_. And somehow Soonyoung wanted to both stare _and_ look away from it. He wished his brain would make up its mind. It’s so confusing.

“I won’t cheer again then,” Soonyoung huffed, wanting to let Seungcheol know that he wouldn’t have the captain laugh at him again. That got Seungcheol looking back at Soonyoung, and this time he was the one pouting. 

“Don’t say that. I was just joking.” There’s something childish in his whining tone, kind of like Jun when he’s asking for a big favor, but less annoying….No, it was definitely bugging Soonyoung, but in a different way...

Soonyoung’s mind was frantically searching for ideas to distract from this state of confusion he was thrown into. That’s when he realized that he was holding a can of isotonic drink in his hand.

“Buy me one then,” he said as he lifted the Pocari Sweat can to the side of his face. “I’m going back to the gym to cheer on you. Gonna need refreshment.”

Seungcheol looked confused. “But you already have one.”

“This is Jihoon’s.”

Seungcheol let out a short “Oh” and walked around Soonyoung to get to the vending machine. The captain rummaged in his pants pocket for his wallet, and Soonyoung asked him if he carried his wallet throughout the game too. 

“No, I just grabbed it before going out here.” When Seungcheol turned to face Soonyoung, he got _three_ cans of Pocari Sweat. To Soonyoung’s surprise, all three cans were transferred to his hold. 

“I want to buy for Jihoon too. Since I owe him but haven’t pay him back after all this time,” Seungcheol explained. His explanation only raised more questions in Soonyoung’s head, but before Soonyoung could say them, Seungcheol continued. 

“But if Jihoon gets two, you should too.”

It’s actually nice of Seungcheol, thought Soonyoung, and he thanked the captain with a sincere “Thank you” and a smile. But Soonyoung just couldn’t let go of his curiosity so he asked anyway. “What did you owe Jihoon for?”

Seungcheol blinked as if he just remembered. “Oh. He told me your name. After that game.” 

For a split second, Soonyoung felt some kind of _annoyance_ towards his best friend, and he couldn’t help but frown. “You knew Jihoon?”

Seungcheol answered casually, “Kind of. He’s Wonwoo’s classmate so…”

“Oh.” Soonyoung responded. He could hear coldness in his own voice and it sounded so strange. “Yeah, he is.”

Maybe the way Soonyoung replied was too harsh, there’s confusion and guilt mixed in Seungcheol’s eyes. But then clarity returned to his eyes, he looked serious and somewhat nervous, biting his lower lip before saying, "Actually, ever since that game--"

"Capt!"

Seungcheol's words were cut off by a voice from behind him. It was one of Pledis' players, maybe a first year, but Soonyoung wasn't sure. The boy was out here to remind that the game was about to resume. Seungcheol said thanks then turned back to Soonyoung.

"Gotta go beat Seonghyeong's ass. With your cheer," he said with a small, hopeful grin, which turned into an ear-splitting one when Sooonyoung replied with a smile and a promise to not make Seungcheol regret buying him drinks. The captain walked back to the gym with quick, light steps.

Soonyoung took his time in walking as he was balancing four cans in his hold and the whirlwind of thoughts filling his head. All the way to the bench, his mind was preoccupied. What was Seungcheol trying to say earlier? It's probably nothing important but somehow Soonyoung's brain refused to let the thought go. Aside from curiosity, there's also nervousness and excitement. He could feel them under his skin. It's like he was expecting something. But what?

Soonyoung spent the last half of the match with those questions sticking to the back of his head. He tried to focus his attention to the game, but found his gaze following Seungcheol. No matter what, there's Seungcheol inside his head. He’s not sure he liked this constant distraction, but it was definitely something new for him and very much out of his comfort zone. 

  
  


*****

# Getting his ID

Monday afternoon, Soonyoung found himself dreading to go to lunch. Even after the bell rang, he stayed seated, not standing at the front of his class and wait for Jihoon as usual. Jihoon had to come inside and get him. His best friend raised an eyebrow at his strange behavior, but Soonyoung made the Math assignment as an excuse.

At the cafeteria, Seungcheol and his gang arrived a few moments after Soonyoung. At first Soonyoung had to force himself to act natural around the basketball captain, but Seungcheol and everyone else on the table made it easy for Soonyoung to be himself again. Their conversations and banters had become familiar, and Soonyoung received comfort from it. He even felt silly for feeling tense earlier. 

Some point in their chat led them to talk about the basket practice match two days ago, and the starting players were talking animatedly about how the game proceeded, Seokmin and Mingyu notably using large gestures while Vernon provided loud reaction sounds. Soonyoung and Jihoon chimed in from time to time to add audience perspective.

"Hey, uh… Thanks again guys," Seungcheol suddenly turned to Soonyoung and Jihoon. "For coming to watch." It made Soonyoung felt self-conscious and he struggled to mirror Jihoon's easy response of "No problem."

"Since you have supported us, I thought if we could watch your performance? I mean, not that I feel obligated or something, 'cause I do, want to watch.

Seungcheol's words were supposed to be for every member of the Dance club on this table, yet Soonyoung couldn't help but feel like they were directed to him. With the way Seungcheol kept glancing at him, Soonyoung was led to make that assumption. He didn't know if he was _happy_ about that. It just felt…. _weird_.

He turned to Chan on his left, who gave him an encouraging look, which made Soonyoung more self-conscious rather than encouraged. He turned again towards the basket boys’ table, deliberately letting his gaze swipe over all five boys as he announced the event details.

"It's next Sunday. Holsin Shopping Avenue at 2 PM," said Soonyoung.

The basket players sans their captain turned out to already having plans on the show day. Jun jokingly accused them of not being supportive and Seokmin eagerly pointed out that Jun wasn't there to watch the basket game last week. 

Seungcheol promised he'd go watch. Soonyoung had to avert his gaze when responding because Seungcheol's eyes were so bright while he spoke, too dazzling for Soonyoung’s eyes.

***

The stage on Daegu Art Week was not a competition, but Pledis Contemporary Dance Club had to go through a selection process to be one of the performers. They were going to show a group performance by 10 of their members, including Soonyoung, Jun, Minghao, and Chan.

The stage was a decent 11-meter long, located at the end of a shopping street. Soonyoung and his friends had arrived at three hours earlier, even though it didn't take long for briefing and preparations. The staff allowed them to watch other performances as long as they went into position 15 minutes before 2 PM, and all the club members intended to take this chance, so they joined the audience standing in front of the stage. 

The lineup of local performers gave some impressive shows to see, yet Soonyoung found himself kept glancing around and scanning the crowd instead of focusing on the stage. His eyes were searching for a certain face who had yet to be seen. It was 1 PM. Soonyoung began to feel a little sour.

Standing on his left, Chan tapped his shoulder. Soonyoung turned his head to see Chan showing his phone screen. And there was the person Soonyoung was looking for.

On the screen, Seungcheol was wrapping his arms around a middle-aged woman. Soonyoung was not good at guessing people's age, but the woman seemed to be around his mother's age. Seungcheol had his body pressed to the left side of that woman. They were both smiling wide, the two gummy smile looked like exact copies.

The caption said, "Auntie gave a surprise visit!"

''It's probably why he's not coming," Chan said before pulling his phone back to the front of his face. 

Soonyoung hummed his response absentmindedly, and there was a pause before his brain finally registered what just happened. 

Chan knew he was looking for Seungcheol.

Heat crept up Soonyoung's cheeks as he realized that. His mouth opening and closing like a fish, attempting to state a denial but not finding the words to do so. Hell, he didn't even realize that he was looking for Seungcheol. He just did. But it's not like he was hoping for Seungcheol to come, though the feeling he got sure felt like disappointment, but--aaaaaaarghhh!!!

Chan didn't seem to notice Soonyoung's internal struggle. He kept fiddling with his phone until Seungkwan came. Soonyoung looked at the pair with--Oh God this is ridiculous--envy. _Ugh_ , thought Soonyoung. He couldn’t believe he would feel _jealous_ looking at a couple doing nothing but being together. 

****

When the bell for lunchtime rang on Monday afternoon, Sooonyoung opened his phone to see Jihoon’s chat, saying that he had to submit class assignments to the teachers' room so Soonyoung should head to the cafeteria first. Soonyoung gave a sticker to reply then went out of his classroom.

Just as he was about to go down the stairs to the first floor, he saw Seungcheol coming from the opposite direction. Soonyoung’s first thought was to run down the stairs, but it would be rude. The basketball captain already noticed Soonyoung, giving a hopeful look as he approached in somewhat eager steps. Soonyoung waited and they walked down the stairs side by side.

''I'm sorry," said Seungcheol after they stepped off the last staircase. "Yesterday my aunt came from Seoul. She's kind of a free soul. Just popped up in front of our door, not a call or even a text." Seungcheol chuckled when talking about his aunt, but afterwards his face turned back to apologetic.

Soonyoung’s heart was being an indecisive pain-in-the-ass again and couldn't decide on the emotion he’s supposed to feel. He felt bad seeing Seungcheol apologizing, but on the other hand he found himself brooding. Was he that disappointed to not have Seungcheol watch him perform?

Soonyoung tried to convince Seungcheol that it was fine. His own words tasted bitter on his tongue, the taste of a lie. And it seemed that Seungcheol could see through it

"I should've told you…" Seungcheol continued. He eyed Soonyoung, this time looking bashful. "...but I don't have your ID…''

 _Right. They hadn't exchanged Kakao Talk ID!_ Soonyoung mentally slapped himself on the face for completely forgetting about that. Of course Seungcheol couldn't contact him… Not that he's obligated to do so. Right?

Soonyoung didn't know why he felt embarrassed as he took out his phone. Maybe it's because of the hope in Seungcheol's eyes that made him look like a puppy waiting for treats. It made Soonyoung felt self-conscious over exchanging ID with a schoolmate.

The way Seungcheol smiled widely when saving Soonyoung in his contacts gave Soonyoung the butterflies, which didn’t go away even after they reached the cafeteria and took their usual seats. He tried to brush off the feeling with food and chatting with his friends, but but not having much of a success because Seungcheol's happy smile was right there in his peripheral vision. When Jihoon arrived at their table, followed by Wonwoo who was walking slightly behind, Soonyoung immediately roped his best friend into a conversation, continuing his effort to distract himself.

Even so, the simple ID exchange refuse to leave Soonyoung's mind that day. On the train ride home, the time he felt relaxed and let his guard down, he blurted to his best friend.

"Do you have the basket boys' KKT?"

Soonyoung asked that while facing to the seats across him, and finally twisted his neck when Jihoon wasn't answering. He saw Jihoon wearing a rather stiff expression when answering that he doesn’t. Soonyoung noticed but didn’t have the luxury to ponder about it. His mind was more concerned with the fact that Jihoon didn't have the boys' contact, not even his classmate Wonwoo. So did that mean it's weird for Soonyoung to have Seungcheol's ID? How about Chan and Seungkwan? They seemed like they would save the basket boys contact? So it's okay? Why was he thinking about this? 

After shower at home, Soonyoung picked up his phone from the bed and saw a new message notification. He involuntarily held a breath when he saw the sender's name: Choi Seungcheol.

"Mingyu and Seokmin" the message said, followed by a link to a video. The short 1-minute clip showed two foreigner-looking boys in uniform, definitely not Mingyu and Seokmin, dancing on top of their desks when the class door was opened by a strict-looking female teacher. It got Soonyoung bursting out in laughter.

He ended up spending the next few minutes lying on his stomach with phone in his hands, typing replies after replies as their conversation continued, enjoying the easy way they converse just like when they’re at the cafeteria with their friends. When his father opened his door without knocking and announced that dinner was ready, he didn't even have the room in his heart to feel annoyed. 

Soonyoung gave Seungcheol a heads up for not being able to reply for as long as he was sitting on the dinner table, and Seungcheol’s response was a close up photo of his face, chin propped up on a light green pillow (is that Mickey Mouse on the motive?), right eye closed in a wink towards the camera. Blush crept to Soonyoung’s cheeks as it dawned to him that Seungcheol was practically winking at him. The message said, “Going to bed early. Good night.”

Later that night Soonyoung found himself lying on his bed, scrolling through his messages with Seungcheol. He didn’t know when he fell asleep, but the last thing he remembered before drifting off was the image of Seungcheol’s selfie. The illustration on Seungcheol’s pillow case was indeed Mickey Mouse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soonyoung is frustratingly slow (lol) but I will continue to deliver his journey through this self-indulgent fic. I hope I can keep you interested enough and enjoy the ride ^^
> 
> ...but I must warn you that the updates might continue to be irregular ^^;


	5. Chapter 5

# @seungcheollie_95 and @dancer_soon

Soonyoung heard the light knock of tableware being put on the table. He looked up from his phone to his father settling a bowl of kimchi soup between plates of seasoned spinach and pan-fried fish. After one glance at his phone screen, empty of new notification, Soonyoung tucked the device into his pants pocket. His hand reached towards the chopsticks in front of him, but it was itching to return to the phone. He knew the screen would still be empty; there’s no vibration of new notification. Yet he couldn’t take his mind completely off of it. 

Trying to distract himself, Soonyoung took a large bite of pan-fried fish. Chewing his food helped for a while. But by the time his rice bowl was almost empty, he felt a vibration in his right pocket and tried not to put down his chopsticks to grab his phone. Somehow he managed to clean his plate and help his parents by washing the dishes, everything from the tableware to the tools they used to cook earlier. As soon as he finished drying is hands with a small towel by the sink, his right hand reached down to his pocket for his phone. After pressing the power button he could see the chat notification hanging at the top. He smiled at the name  _ Seungcheol  _ written on it.

The new message was sent around 30 minutes after Soonyoung’s last one. They were talking about  _ Queen Mystery _ , the TV drama currently airing on Tuesday and Friday. Soonyoung had sent an argument about why he thought Kim Minseok was not the culprit and was waiting for Seungcheol to respond. The reply was 3 concise sentences of his reasoning and one lengthy paragraph of how he personally wished Kim Minseok was the culprit instead of one of the potential victim in the next episode because he wanted to see more of the actor, Yoon Jaemin. 

_ Seungcheol: _

_ also, imagine Jaemin-hyung acting as antagonist. that’s gonna be SO COOL. _

Soonyoung snorted at Seungcheol’s enthusiasm but quickly let out a small wail of pain as he hit his right foot to the sofa. He looked up from his phone screen for a bit to navigate himself and settle at the edge of the couch where his parents were sitting to watch on old movie at the TV, then returned his attention to type a reply. At first he wanted to send a counter-argument to Seungcheol’s theories, but soon he realized that he didn’t really care about whether Kim Minseok was the bad guy or not. He’s more interested in the way  _ Seungcheol  _ was interested in Yoon Jaemin. Did Seungcheol meant Yoon Jaemin was cool, like in the way he admired Ha Seungjin the professional basketball player? Or the “he’s so cool, he’s hot” kind of way?

Soonyoung’s quest to find the answer was interrupted by his mother’s voice. “New trendy game you got there?” she asked without glancing away from the TV screen. 

“W-what?”

At Soonyoung’s surprised stutter, his mother added, “You’re not usually obsessed with your phone but today you even brought it to the dinner table.” A master multitasker indeed, the 45-year-old woman was watching a movie while clipping her toenails and still managed to notice something different going on with her son.

Soonyoung’s father suggested an explanation. “Probably a girl or boy he’s courting.” Soonyoung didn’t even get the time be be flustered about his father’s remarks because of his mother’s snorting.

“Pfffft. Courting? Our Soonyoungie couldn’t have talked to his crush, there’s no way he could get their number and flirt.”

Soonyoung let out a loud huff to express his offended feelings, but didn’t say anything to argue. Thanks to Yuna, his distant relative who went to the same junior high as him, Soonyoung’s parents knew about him spending his whole second year crushing on their schoolmate Jane without even exchanging a single word with her. How could he convince his parents that he’s not a chicken in the matters of romance? Should he show his chats with Seungcheol--

_ Hold on. _

His phone slipped from his palm and dropped onto his lap. Soonyoung let it be. His mind was too occupied with what itself had insisted just now. That he was flirting. With basketball captain Choi Seungcheol.

_ WAIWAIWAIWAIWAIWAIWAIWAITTT!!!!! _

Okay, Soonyoung admitted that he had been texting frequently with Seungcheol. But, it’s not that often right?

Trying to silence the doubtful voice in the corner of his head, Soonyoung opened the chat thread between him and Seungcheol. His thumb scrolled up the thread for quite a long time until it eventually stopped at a conversation dated two weeks ago. Soonyoung gulped when he found out that he had been chatting with Seungcheol every single day for that time period.

_ But that doesn’t mean anything. I chat everyday with my other friends too!  _ Soonyoung frowned as he opened the chat thread between him and Jihoon. Scrolling up until the chat from two weeks ago didn’t take as long, and he could see that sometimes he and Jihoon didn’t text each other for a whole 2 or 3 days.

_ Of course. We see each other  _ everyday _. We don’t need to text that often. _

Soonyoung navigated his screen to another chat thread, this one was between him and Jun. He only needed to scroll 2 times to get to the convo from 2 weeks ago. Taking another gulp, Soonyoung moved to the group chat consisting of him, Chan, Minghao, and Jun.  _ I don’t text Jun in private often but we use group chat _ . Soonyoung scrolled through the group as he tried to calm himself. It was a total failure as he saw that he hadn’t been too active in replying to the chats in their group. He didn’t really like texting, to be honest. He preferred to talk in person and he talked a lot with his friends at school and during club activities. 

_ How about Seungcheol? _ I talk with him too at school.

_ Why you’re texting him so often? _ Well, we don’t actually have many chance to  _ really  _ talk, more like participating in the same group conversation.

_ So it’s not enough for you? You want to talk more with him? _

Soonyoung was taken aback by questions posed by the voice in his own head. It was too scary to try finding the answer so he turned off his phone and bury his face into his pillow instead.

  
  


**

Soonyoung couldn’t stop the smile that bloomed on his face. He had finished shower and putting on his uniform when he pressed the power button of his phone. “Good morning :)” the message notification said. It’s from Seungcheol. Soonyoung tapped his thumb to open the chat thread and saw that Seungcheol sent him a smiley sun sticker before the greeting text. His finger moved to type a reply.

_ Soonyoung: _

_ morning! sorry i slept earlier last night… _

As soon as he hit the send button, Soonyoung felt embarrassment and regret. Why did he say it like Seungcheol had been waiting for his message? Pffft, no way, right?

The reply came seconds later.

_ Seungcheol: _

_ it’s ok 😗 See you at lunch _

Soonyoung stared at the message, zooming in on the kissy face emoji, the one without hearts. He imagined Seungcheol actually making that face, lips pursed and eyes closed. A chuckle slipped out from his lips.

First class today was Chemistry, Soonyoung’s worst enemy. He usually got cranky about it but today he felt just fine. Great even. So great that he was smiling wide the whole morning and didn’t realize until Sohee who sat next to him pointed it out. 

His good mood lasted through lunch, in which he had a good time and conversation with Seungcheol, and yes of course, his friends. However that feeling of lacking crept into Soonyoung’s chest. When he’s looking at Seungcheol across the table and responded to the captain’s words, there would always be other voices chiming in. Most topics couldn’t be kept between two people, somehow it would be shared with half of the table and eventually everyone. It was fun, it’s good. But when Seungcheol turned his face away to look at whoever’s putting in their two cents in the topic, Soonyoung felt it. That feeling of something missing.

The thought frequented Soonyoung’s mind throughout the rest of the day, lodging itself between Physics formulas and choreography. And when Soonyoung had finished dance practice for the day, he opened his phone to see a new message from Seungcheol.

Soonyoung’s heart skipped a beat as he clicked on the message. There’s a video thumbnail with the title “FLOWERS CAN DANCE!!! Amazing nature.” It’s a short 2-minutes video showing a time lapse footage of various flowers swaying from the wind. The colorful image combined with the fantasy movie-vibe BGM brought a jolt of excitement to Soonyoung.

Going back to the chat thread, Soonyoung found a text saying  _ “sorry, i know you’re practicing. just saw it and thought of you.” _ The video and text were time stamped an hour ago.

Soonyoung’s thumb clicked on the typing box immediately, yet it stopped, just hovering over the pop-up keyboard. It suddenly hit him that he didn’t know that much about Seungcheol. Thinking about their text conversations, Soonyoung could see that it’s mostly them talking about  _ Soonyoung _ . What Soonyoung liked, what he avoided, what he was doing. Seungcheol talked about them and Soonyoung felt happy to share but it was not enough. Seungcheol understood him enough to know that Soonyoung had a dance practice today. How about Seungcheol? Him texting an hour ago, did that mean there’s no basketball practice today? So what’s he doing? Soonyoung didn’t know. And he wanted to know.

The realization made him stare at his phone screen with frustration. Now that he knew he wanted to know more about Seungcheol, he didn’t know  _ how _ to. Should he just text  _ “No practice today?”  _ It’s normal to ask that… but why did his thumbs keep on typing and erasing the message over and over?

_ Ugh _ . Soonyoung’s brain almost gave up and he tried to cool it down for a bit. He approached a chair and table at the side of the club room, plopped himself into the seat and laid his head on the table. He watched as the club members grabbed their bags and headed out of the room, responding to their goodbyes with left cheek sticking to the tabletop. 

While everyone was heading out, Chan walked towards Soonyoung. He walked with head looking down to the phone in his right hand and looked up when he arrived in front of Soonyoung.

"Soonie, I might be able to look for the fabric today," the sophomore said. "Going to Daljeon with Seungkwan."

Hearing Chan's words, Soonyoung rotated his head so that he could look up to Chan, his chin touching the table surface. 

"Really? That'll be a great help." The club was going to make some new costumes and they had to research materials with the right condition and price.

''Yeah but not 100% sure. Gotta help Seungkwan look for shoes first. There's this brand he's interested in, but the new lineup got several selections…" Chan gave him a look as if saying 'You know Seungkwan' and continued, "Might take a while at the shoe store."

"Sure. Just text me later."

Chan nodded. Then he said, or more like mumbling to himself, "Maybe I should ask Seungcheol…"

Soonyoung perked up at the mention of Seungcheol's name. He lifted his whole torso from the table and looked at Chan. "Seungcheol?"

Chan answered matter-of-factly, as if it was common knowledge. "He likes the shoe brand. Own some of them. Maybe he can give a recommendation, or know how to get it cheap." 

"Oh." Soonyoung paused. There's heat bubbling inside his chest, but not the warm and pleasant type. "He mentioned it at lunch?" Soonyoung asked with a bit of venom in his voice. He couldn't remember Seungcheol mentioning about his shoe collection during lunch, and certainly not in their texts. How did Chan know? Did they talk about it by themselves? Do they have each other's KKT?

Chan's eyes wavered to the ceiling as if trying to recall. "Nah. I think it was Instagram." 

Chan's answer got Soonyoung thinking even long after they parted ways. He had never been interested in social media before. Being technology illiterate, he was convinced that all social media platforms are as difficult to configure as a Chemistry exam. Besides, he had never felt the need to have one. But the prospect of getting to know more about Seungcheol through the platform intrigued him. After a night of contemplation, Soonyoung decided to ask Minghao to help him make an account the next day at school. Jihoon would’ve been his first choice, if only his best friend had owned an Instagram, so he’d have to settle with Minghao. Sure, Minghao might ask him the reason behind his unusual request, but he wouldn’t pester him like Jun would if Soonyoung kept quiet about it. Chan might not say anything if Soonyoung asked for help, but the sophomore couldn’t live a life without sharing everything with his boyfriend and Seungkwan would definitely probe into the matter, coming up with different kinds of way to find out even if Soonyoung refused to tell him.

"Instagram? Sure," said Minghao as he stretched out his hand and asked Soonyoung for his phone. As expected, Minghao taught Soonyoung without asking any questions. Soonyoung let out a sigh of relief.

Soonyoung had his username set as "dancer_soon" and his bio was "Daegu's top dancer". Minghao told him to upload a profile picture but Soonyoung didn't want to show his face. He set a photo of tteokbokki instead.

"If we follow someone, would they know it?" Soonyoung asked. He didn't want anyone,  _ especially Seungcheol _ , to find out he had an Instagram.

''Yeah. They'll get a notif and you'll appear in their followers list." 

Uh oh. That's one thing to be careful of, thought Soonyoung. Remember, do not follow.

"How can you see the picture and clip slideshow?" At first Minghao couldn't understand Soonyoung's next question. The Daegu-born Chinese was perfectly capable of understanding Korean, even using more difficult (and filthier) words than Soonyoung ever did in his 18-year-old life. It’s Soonyoung’s problem for not understanding the basics of Instagram that he couldn’t even convey what he wanted to know about. Soonyoung had to rephrase it a couple of times until Minghao got it.

"That's the Stories," said Minghao before leaning into Soonyoung's space and peek into his phone. He moved his finger across the screen as he explained. "If you follow them, they'll appear here. You can also click here." Minghao’s finger was fast and Soonyoung desperately hoped that his brain remembered.

Thankfully, he remembered somehow. The next few days he checked Instagram after school, going straight to Seungcheol's profile. Seungcheol was an active user, posting photos quite often and Stories almost every day. It was quite satisfying to find out things about Seungcheol that he couldn't ask about at lunch or in his texts, although Soonyoung did experience guilt from what felt like a stalkerish behavior.

When Seungcheol shared a Story of an ice cream cup with the background of what looked like Holsin shopping avenue, it sparked an idea in Soonyoung’s head. He spent a whole 15 minutes to stare at a message he typed to Seungcheol before hitting the send button.

_ Soonyoung: _

_ help _

_ Yuna, my cousin’s cousin _

_ she’s annoying _

_ keep asking me to treat her and her friends some ice cream _

_ but she doesn’t want Baskin Robbins _

_ i don’t know other ice cream shops _

He sent a sticker of a crying hamster and waited with heart beating nervously. This was the first time he texted Seungcheol first. It had always been Seungcheol sending him texts and Soonyoung replying to them. The way his heart popping inside his ribs was a bit uncomfortable, but there’s also a drop of excitement that made Soonyoung giddy. 

_ Seungcheol: _

_ i know a place! _

_ it’s new but good! _

_ camilla snow castle in holsin, next to the bookstore _

_ mint choco is recommended but the basic flavors are tasty too _

  
  


_ Soonyoung: _

_ you been there? _

_ Seungcheol: _

_ yeah! just now! Minyoung likes it so much _

  
  


Seungcheol attached a photo of him with a young girl on his lap, sitting behind a spotless white table with the background of a warm wood colored wall. The girl looked bigger than most kindergarten kids but Soonyoung guessed that she couldn’t be older than a third grader.

The basketball captain explained in his following texts that Minyoung was his 6-year-old cousin who lived near his house. They were having a family day out together and when Minyoung asked for a treat and they decided on the new ice cream shop that had only been opened for 2 weeks. Soonyoung smiled at the explanation. Not only he got to know more about what Seungcheol was doing, and with whom, he also got a photo that Seungcheol didn’t post in his Instagram profile or Stories! There’s something satisfying about that.

Since then Soonyoung tried to text Seungcheol first without waiting for the captain to do it, and he relied quite a lot on Seungcheol’s Instagram to find a topic. He started to think that making an Instagram account was a great decision.

However, Soonyoung got an unexpected surprise when several days later he opened the Instagram. He saw something out of the ordinary, the heart icon at the bottom bar had a red dot on it. That never happened before. He clicked the icon with his heartbeat quickening, not knowing what to expect. 

The screen showed "seungcheollie_95 is now following you."

_ What? _

_ How? _

_ Why? _

_ I didn't even follow him never told anyone about my account how did he found mine I-- _

As Soonyoung was panicking, his phone beeped to show him a KKT chat from Seungcheol. 

  
  


_ Seungcheol: _

_ you didn't tell me you got IG. i just followed ^^ _

  
  


Soonyoung didn't reply. Instead, he went straight to Minghao's KKT. 

  
  


_ Soonyoung: _

_ how can someone find your IG?? you're not following them?? _

  
  


His chat was read immediately, but it took a few moments for the reply. 

_ Minghao:  _

_ Do you see their stories? _

_ Soonyoung: _

_ yes. _

  
  


The next reply was a screenshot. There's a tiny box at the upper half and a vertical line of what seemed like Instagram accounts. Then Minghao typed,  _ "You can check who sees your stories." _

  
  


_ Soonyoung: _

_ even not a follower?" _

  
  


Minghao sent him an animated sticker of a cartoon fox nodding and Soonyoung groaned. He absolutely had no idea! Apparently all this time he was not invisible as he thought. He didn’t know why Seungcheol only noticed now, but maybe Soonyoung had just been lucky and right now his luck ran out.

While brooding on his mistake, Soonyoung reminded himself that he hadn't replied to Seungcheol's message. He remembered the time Seungcheol read his chat and didn't reply until hours later. Later Seungcheol apologized and explained that his mother called for him, but Soonyoung had to spend two hours before that explanation with feeling restless and disappointed.

_ It's not like Seungcheol would feel that for me _ , Soonyoung told himself and shook his head.  After taking one deep breath, Soonyoung opened the chat room and sent a hamster sticker saying "Thanks." It was immediately marked as read, and the reply came only a beat later.

  
  


_ Seungcheol: _

_ you haven't posted anything? _

_ Soonyoung: _

_ don't really know how or what to up. _

_ Seungcheol: _

_ how about your dance videos? it could be like an online portfolio. _

  
  


Oh? The idea piqued Soonyoung's interest. He had seen dancers uploading their performances on Youtube and other platforms, but it hadn't cross his mind to do it himself. He was embarrassed, not because of his dance (he had confidence in that) but because he simply couldn't understand social media more than using it for browsing. 

Soonyoung told Seungcheol the truth, that he's interested but didn't know how. The message was quickly read, but Seungcheol's didn’t reply for a while. When Soonyoung started to feel nervous, the reply came.

  
  


_ Seungcheol: _

_ you can send me the vids. i'll edit them. _

  
  


Another pause.

  
  


_ Seungcheol: _

_ maybe tomorrow i can teach you how to post _

  
  


The message was followed by the caricature version of the actor Yoon Jaemin, with a disproportionately large head and a wink. The text in the sticker said, "Let me handle it", which was probably a line from his drama before  _ Queen Mystery _ . Soonyoung couldn’t remember the title but vaguely remembered from when he accompanied his mother to watch it.

Snorting at the choice of sticker, Soonyoung sent a simple "OK" stamp. Choi Seungcheol and his admiration (crush?) towards Yoon Jaemin was… adorable.

****

The next day, Seungcheol surprised Soonyoung by taking a seat on Soonyoung's right at the cafeteria. It’s usually occupied by Wonwoo, but today the quiet boy sat across the table.

"Let's try uploading the edited video I sent you," he said with a smile that reached his eyes. The captain leaned into Soonyoung, so close that their shoulders almost touched. Soonyoung could barely concentrate on the phone in his hands, it was certainly difficult to do when he got Seungcheol's body warmth and odor in his personal space. At times he managed to look at the screen, but his gaze would wander to Seungcheol, observing the contour of his face, the beautiful long eyelashes…

Soonyoung shook his head and turned towards his best friend across him, an automatic reaction to his panic state. But Jihoon seemed to be engrossed in a conversation with Wonwoo, who had taken Seungcheol's original seat and now seated next to Jihoon. Soonyoung sighed in desperation.

"Did I explain too fast?" It seemed that Seungcheol took his sigh as a sign of frustration for not keeping up with the tutorial. Well, that's not entirely wrong… More importantly, Seungcheol looked up from the phone as he asked. Because he was already leaning to Soonyoung's side, now their faces were separated less than a palm's distance. 

Gazing straight into Seungcheol's face, Soonyoung was hit with a familiar feeling. It's very nostalgic, everything from the heart racing to the goosebumps travelling under his skin. At first Soonyoung couldn't recall when he experienced the feeling before. But slowly, as he watched Seungcheol's cheeks going pink and eyes sparkling, Soonyoung started to remember. 

He was five years old at the time. His parents brought him to the city's community center, where the local government was holding an arts event to entertain its citizens during the weekend as well as promote Daegu as South Korea's art center. It was a bit past 6 pm, little Soonyoung was getting sleepy. He was about to whine at his parents so they could get home, when one man went up to the stage and started to move his body along with the music. Soonyoung ended up watching the man’s performance until the end, even refusing his parents’ urging to leave the stage and get some foot when a group of men and women joined the solo dancer and mesmerized Soonyoung with another performance.

It's the feeling Soonyoung got on the day he fell in love with dance.

  
  
  


*****

# His back

Soonyoung and Minghao bid their goodbyes to the other club members and left the residential area to the direction of the Sangin train station. They all just had their sizes measured for new costumes. Jun had a neighbor who could tailor the outfit for them at a reasonable price, so they went to meet the middle-aged lady at her home-slash-shop. The others were going to the game center near the Wolbae station in the opposite direction, so it was just Soonyoung and Minghao heading to Sangin.

The area surrounding the Sangin station had some stores and diners, but not as bustling with activities as the Wolbae. The stores looked rather shabby too, and Soonyoung bet the area would look ten times more alarming after the sky turns dark. Thankfully Minghao walked fast so Soonyoung didn't have to ask him to hurry up.

But then Minghao's fast pace came to an abrupt halt. The sophomore seemed to have heard something that caught his attention. The noise came from an alley on their left.

From their distance, Soonyoung could see a bunch of boys, maybe 5 or 6, wearing uniforms Soonyoung didn't recognize. Probably from a local high school. The one boy sitting on his bottom, however, wore a uniform that looked very much like Soonyoung's own.

The boys standing up were kicking on the one boy on the ground, growling and spitting insults. The sight brought anger to Minghao's face, and he walked towards them so quickly that Soonyoung was struggling to catch up.

Once they arrived right at the scene, the boys turned around. Soonyoung recognized none of the faces but one: the boy sitting on the concrete ground. He was indeed wearing Pledis High School uniform, and his face was familiar because Soonyoung had seen it every day at lunch.

It was Mingyu.

''Mingyu, are you all right?" Soonyoung said in shock. 

Mingyu didn't have the time to answer as one of the bullies spoke up. "You his friends? Basket boys too?"

Soonyoung was stunned from being talked to by  a boy who looked like he could easily (and with no hesitation) beat Soonyoung into a pulp. It made him lose his ability to speak.

Meanwhile, Minghao showed no sign of fear. He glared at the boys as he said, "Haeseok boys have degraded into scums now, eh?" His tone was filled with disgust.

"What the fuck, you have a death wish??" Another boy spoke up. He looked so angry that Soonyoung could see the veins on his face.

Minghao, still not fazed, snorted at the boys. "Even when Haeseok kids used to be respectable fighters, they couldn't beat me." Minghao cracked a knuckle.

"You fucking twig!!" The boy at the front yelled before charging towards them. 

With a bunch of delinquents coming towards him, Soonyoung almost lost the ability to stand up. But Minghao's yell made him hold on to his feet.

"Get Mingyu!" he yelled as he tackled one of the boys to the ground. 

Soonyoung didn't have the time to nod as he had to maneuver himself around one Haeseok boy charging at him and run towards Mingyu. He helped the large boy getting up, which thankfully wasn't that hard because the boys had spare his legs when beating him up. 

They looked at each other and then towards the end of the alley behind them, but no one moved their legs. The two kept returning to look at the bout happening right next to them, wanting to do something to help Minghao, who’s single-handedly fighting 5 boys, but finding themselves unable to move a limb.

"What you doing! Go!" Minghao snapped at the same time as he twisted a boy's arm and threw him to the ground. 

"But--" Mingyu wanted to say something, only to be interrupted by Minghao.

"Who do you think I am?" Minghao didn’t have to yell to get his point across. His calm but sharp voice and intense gaze made him feel more intimidating than the group of rogued boys surrounding him, and Soonyoung couldn't blame Mingyu from trembling. 

Soonyoung and Mingyu finally understood that they had no choice but to obey Minghao's words. They made a dash through several alleys before they felt safe enough to stop, with Soonyoung almost tripping on his feet. There were several store signs visible around them, but Soonyoung could no longer recognize where this was. Might be a part of the area that he had never ventured before. Soonyoung took out his phone and quickly accessed the map. The dot pointed their location about 2 km from Sangin train station. Fear and panic had made them run that far.

“Minghao…” Mingyu was standing on his right, looking less out of breath compared to Soonyoung, probably because he’s more used to running in his basketball practice. His face looked slightly pale though. Soonyoung suspected it’s from worry and fear for their friend.

“Let’s get help,” Soonyoung said with his best reassuring tone and fiddled with his phone to find police station on the map. Thankfully there’s one within 10 minutes walk. They made another dash to reach it faster.

Once they arrived at the station, they were greeted by a young male officer who looked like he just graduated from the police academy. The young policeman listened patiently to their recount of the beating even though Soonyoung and Mingyu often stumbled with their words because of panic. He was also quick to tell the other officers to check the scene when they told him they got a friend still alone with the bullies.

"I didn't fight back because I didn't want trouble..." Mingyu looked down to his knees and spoke with voice almost choking. "I--uh--I won't be able to play at the match if I get into a fight, so I said s-sorry… I apologized for bumping into them and I begged b-but… Now Minghao…"

Soonyoung looked at the poor boy with pity. Mingyu might be large and could seem intimidating with his two-meter height, but he was nothing but a gentle boy. Anger built up inside Soonyoung towards the bullies that took advantage of Mingyu not fighting back and ganged up on him. 

He wanted to help Mingyu calm down, but with the sadness and anger, added with the fear that still haunted him from almost being beaten up into pulp, Soonyoung found himself trembling. So he was glad that the officer took care of Mingyu, patting his back and listening to him.

As for Soonyoung himself, he tried to regain composure by taking out his phone. There was no hesitation as he scroll through the contacts and tapped dial.

_ "Soonyoung? What's with the call? N-not that I don't like it--"  _ Seungcheol’s voice greeted him after two rings and Soonyoung slumped back into his chair, shoulders feeling less tense.

"Seungcheol," Soonyoung called his name with a sigh. "Mingyu and I, we almost got beaten by a gang."

_ "What??"  _ Seungcheol probably didn’t realize he was yelling at Soonyoung’s ear. Soonyoung had to move away the phone from his ear for a bit before explaining the incident, with less stuttering compared to when he explained to the police. As he finished his retelling, he paused for a bit to think about what he was going to say next. He really wanted Seungcheol to come, but he felt like he shouldn't give such trouble. 

Turned out that he didn't even have to ask. Seungcheol said he's coming and asked the area name from Soonyoung. He assured Soonyoung that he’ll get here soon before hanging up.

Letting his back lean into the back of his chair, Soonyoung felt much calmer, although his heart was still beating uncomfortably against his ribcage. It’s going to be okay. The police were on their way to rescue Minghao. Seungcheol was coming. It’s going to be fine. 

The first to arrive at the station were Minghao and the bullies, escorted by three policemen. It was unsettling to see Minghao getting lined up along with the Haeseok kids, but at least the sophomore didn't seem to be injured except from the scrapes on his knuckles and the slight bruise on the left corner of his mouth. A stark contrast to the Haeseok boys whose faces showed that they had been thrown to the concrete at least once. One of the boys was limping, and another was holding his right arm with a permanent scowl on his expression.

Upon their arrival, Mingyu rushed to the policemen and explained once again what had happened, this time emphasizing the fact that Minghao was just helping him and the Haeseok boys were the ones initiating the fight. He was in the middle of his explanation when Mrs. Min and Mr. Kwak, Minghao and Mingyu's homeroom teacher, arrived at the station. Apparently the teachers were contacted by the police station once Mingyu and Soonyoung gave their school information.

Seungcheol arrived a bit later, just as Mingyu started desperately pleading to the teachers to not punish Minghao. The basketball captain greeted the officers and teachers before rushing towards Soonyoung. This was the moment that Soonyoung could finally feel relieved.

"Are you okay?" Seungcheol bent his torso to level himself with Soonyoung sitting on a chair. He gently touched the sides of Soonyoung's arms and his eyes were wandering to look for injuries.

After Soonyoung convinced him that he's fine, Seungcheol gave a quick nod and turned to approach Mingyu. He checked Mingyu for injuries as the boy begged him to convince their teachers. Seungcheol gave him a gentle pat on his back before approaching their teachers and the police officers. He asked if he could check on Minghao too, listened to the words from all parties involved, then reiterate Mingyu's pleading in much calmer way. Seeing that somehow made Soonyoung want to cry. Or maybe the tears had been threatening to come out yet he just realized it now.

Mrs. Min and Mr. Kwak promised them that the school would consider the conditions when discussing the repercussions of Minghao's action. Minghao merely nodded, he didn’t look anxious at the prospect of him getting punished, even looked like he’s slightly bored. Mingyu, on the other hand, had a sour expression on his face, but didn’t argue when Mr. Kwak said he’s sending Mingyu home.

Mrs. Min was going to get Minghao back to his parents. Before leaving the station, she patted Soonyoung's shoulder. "Mr. Jang can’t leave his home right now,” she said, explaining the absence of Soonyoung’s homeroom teacher. “Are you okay going home? Should I call your parents and wait until they pick you up?" she asked with sincere concern.

Soonyoung was about to say that he’s fine on his own, but Seungcheol replied first. "I will accompany him home." His answer made Mrs. Min nodded in satisfaction.

That’s how Soonyoung got left with Seungcheol at the station’s lobby, along with the young policeman that received them earlier. The policemen was back at his desk, busy typing something into his computer and not minding the two high school boys.

Standing near the front door, Soonyoung looked at Seungcheol. "You don't have to…." he said with a guilty smile. He kind of regretted calling Seungcheol, but only for a little bit.

The captain gave him a reassuring smile. "It's no big deal."

"But my house is far from yours."

Despite Soonyoung’s words, Seungcheol smiled again. "I brought my bike," he said before leading Soonyoung to a parking lot about 10 minutes from the station. Seungcheol's ride was a black automatic motorcycle. After receiving a helmet from Seungcheol and putting it on, Soonyoung nervously hopped on the back. The passenger pegs were placed in a rather high position and Soonyoung’s legs were pretty long, so he ended up with his knees propped up over the seat.

Actually Soonyoung couldn't remember ever riding a motorbike before. All his life he used train and bus to commute, sometimes bicycle when helping his parents deliver tteokbokki. He was not sure about trying it now, but Seungcheol was with him. That made him less anxious about the new experience.

Seungcheol was facing the front when he turned on the motorbike. The machine only made a grumbling noise at the start, then it was quiet. So Soonyoung could hear it clearly when the captain said, "You can, uhm... grab on so you don't fall."

Seungcheol didn't turn his head when he spoke, so Soonyoung couldn't see his expression when he said that. He didn’t think he wanted to know either. His previously calm heart started to beat erratically again, and he's not sure if it's only because he's about to ride a motorcycle. With uncertainty, Soonyoung gripped the fabric on the sides of Seungcheol's hips. The thought of circling his arms around Seungcheol had crossed his mind, but it brought this weird tingle all over him so he’d rather not to. 

"You good?" Seungcheol asked. He didn’t start driving until Soonyoung said yes.

Soonyoung didn't know if Seungcheol actually drove like this, or he adjusted his speed to not scare Soonyoung. The ride was gentle enough that Soonyoung was able to forget his initial worries. At some point he began to relax and that's when fatigue crept into him. Getting almost beaten up by a group of delinquents sure drained a lot of energy. It prompted him to seek for rest, and his numb brain told him to lean his head on the surface available in front of him.

He could feel Seungcheol's back moved a little, but the captain said nothing, not even when the bike stopped at the red light. Soonyoung decided it's okay to indulge himself and stayed like this until they reached his home.

******

Minghao ended up with one day suspension, a week of cleaning the second floor boys toilet, and writing a five-pages reflection essay for the incident with Haeseok students. It wouldn’t be recorded in his school performance report card, but the school thought he should get firm reminder to not resort to violence.

The former gang leader didn't seem to object to the verdict. The day after his suspension, he jokingly mentioned how he spent a whole day at home browsing examples for his reflection essay and how he ended up taking bits from various writings and combined it into one.

"That's plagiarism," Jun remarked as he chewed his pok choy. 

"Not if the teachers don't know," Minghao casually shrugged it off.

He looked annoyed more because of Mingyu rather than his punishment. The basket team center had pledged to stick by Minghao's side and insisted to help with anything he could. Get him lunch, wipe the table, whatever it is. Even when Minghao told him to just sit down before he drop or spill anything, Mingyu kept trying to "support" Minghao.

He even took Jihoon's seat when the latter went to get some water. Not flinching at Jihoon's cold gaze, Mingyu said, "I need to be here in case Minghao needs me," completely ignoring Minghao's "I won't."

Jihoon looked like he was too tired to argue and turned to the space next to his original seat. Now that Seungcheol had taken a new spot next to Soonyoung, Jihoon’s side of the bench was occupied by Wonwoo and Vernon. Although Mingyu had moved to that side, there should be enough room for three people to sit comfortably without knocking their knees and elbows.

But now Wonwoo was sitting close to Jihoon’s original spot, so he had to scoot over to Vernon’s side for Jihoon to have a seat. That’s why Jihoon approached his classmate and asked, "Can you move a bit?"

The basketball player merely blinked with that unreadable expression of his before spreading his legs so wide that the remaining space on the bench was covered. 

_ Is he pulling a prank? _ thought Soonyoung in disbelief. After all these time of spending lunch with Wonwoo, Soonyoung already understood that the seemingly cold boy was actually a gentle kid who's capable of making ordinary conversation and laugh at jokes. But not once had he seen Wonwoo trying to tease someone like this.

Jihoon's response was another surprise. He raised his right hand into a chopping pose and started hitting Wonwoo's back with the side of his palm. He was squinting as if annoyed, but showed a little smile when Wonwoo began to laugh.

_ That's... unusual… _ Knowing Jihoon for his whole life, Soonyoung knew that his best friend wasn't particularly fond of initiating physical contact.  _ What was going on? _

Before Soonyoung could think more about this strange phenomenon, Seungcheol called for his attention to talk about ideas for Soonyoung's Instagram. With Seungcheol's help, Soonyoung currently had five posts uploaded on his page. Now Seungcheol was showing another post concept from a popular dancer’s account. 

Soonyoung tried to listen to Seungcheol, but found his attention drifting to gaze at Seungcheol’s eyes, the way his lips moved when he talked, the cute shape of the tip of his ears...

At this moment an epiphany hit him. Ever since sitting next to each other, Soonyoung caught himself often staring at Seungcheol. Somehow a part of his brain decided that the boy was interesting. From the bridge of his nose, the thick and long eyelashes, the lines of his neck… Anything. Everything.

But after Seungcheol sent him home at the back of his bike, after knowing the warmth of his back, Soonyoung wanted something other than watching. He wanted to touch.

Soonyoung tried very hard to brush away the thought from his head. He failed more often than not. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter ^^


	6. Chapter 6

# The Intro

It all started with one sentence from Seungkwan.

“Why not the basket boys?”

At the cafeteria, the dance club members were talking about their plan to make a contemporary dance tutorial video for beginners. The goal was to attract more dance enthusiasts and show that the club wasn’t only for those with experience.

Soonyoung had to pause before responding in a dumbfounded voice, “What?”

“I mean, they’re not dancers,” Seungkwan said with a shrug. “But they do sports so they shouldn’t be that stiff. Perfect, right?"

Before Soonyoung could argue against that, Vernon chimed in with a “Ooo I want to try.” And then Seokmin chirped, “Count me in!”, his eyes sparkling in excitement.

Uh-oh, thought Soonyoung as the conversation continued and went in a direction he didn’t like. _This is bad, this is bad!_

“Well, it’s probable but I have to ask the rest of the club first,” Soonyoung tried to regain control of the discussion and turned towards Jun. That turned out to be a mistake.

Chewing a mouthful of kimchi, Jun’s words sounded slightly muffled but somehow comprehensible. “But you're the pres.”

Soonyoung huffed his protest. “That doesn’t mean I can decide things without everyone’s agreement. I’m not a dictator.”

Chan put his two cents with, “Except when we’re days away from a show.” There’s no mocking in his tone, as if he’s merely stating a fact. That annoyed Soonyoung even more.

“Not true!”

“Uh, yes, true.” Seungkwan said, and it was the second time today that Soonyoung didn’t appreciate the boy’s opinion.

“You’re not even a member!” Soonyoung groaned. “And why don’t you and your theater friends do it?”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes. “It would be less persuasive if the students are from the arts.” While his words made sense, Soonyoung couldn’t find it in him to agree with Seungkwan. It’s Seungkwan’s fault anyway for coming up with this horrible idea!

With his one last glimmer of hope, Soonyoung turned towards Minghao who’s sitting almost perpendicularly across him. The sophomore was usually the most sensitive, so Soonyoung tried to communicate with his eyes, expecting Minghao would pick it up. Minghao blinked a few times before settling his perceptive gaze on Soonyoung’s eyes and Soonyoung thought he’d finally gotten an ally.

However Minghao simply shrugged and said, “They already agreed anyway. Saves us the effort.” The traitor! There’s no way Minghao didn’t notice Soonyoung’s distress. Soonyoung could only take this as an act of betrayal.

At first Soonyoung was perplexed, but later he noticed things about Minghao that might suggest the latter’s motive. For example the way Minghao rolled his eyes at the super excited Mingyu, who was gushing to Minghao about how fun the dance tutorial would be, but showed a small smile when Mingyu looked away to spread his excitement to everyone else. The way Minghao flat-out refused Mingyu’s plea to be his teacher on the filming day but had this soft gaze as he laughed with pure glee at a sulking Mingyu. 

Soonyoung was not usually quick in picking up these kinds of hints. It hurt his ego a bit but that’s the truth. He used to be awfully dense in the face of subtleties, not knowing some things unless other friends told him. Things like who’s got a beef with whom and who’s crushing on each other. Yet this time Soonyoung noticed: Minghao might be softening to Mingyu after the tallest basketball player spent days sitting next to him at lunch. And who knows, maybe after school they would text each other just like--

Soonyoung’s gaze inadvertently moved away from the pair across him, guiding his head to twist to his right. A flash of awareness hit him before he could fully turn his head, saving him from catching the sight of Seungcheol sitting next to him. Soonyoung hadn’t been able to stop himself from stealing glances at the basketball captain at the start of lunchtime (he had almost given up at this point after days of trying and failing to stop), but he hadn’t seen Seungcheol’s expression as they discussed this topic of dance tutorial. 

_Ugh._ Soonyoung wanted to explode. He wanted to scream at Seungcheol, if he could. Make the captain stop sending him heart emoticons in his texts and making Soonyoung’s stomach doing backflips more times than it should be healthy in one day. Stop making him desperate to prolong their contact whenever their elbows or knees accidentally brushed against each other at the lunch table. Soonyoung wanted him to stop because it felt exhilarating but also scary, not making sense at all. The only thing Soonyoung was sure of was that he didn’t feel comfortable with the way these feelings threw him off balance. 

That’s why he wasn’t thrilled with the idea of getting the basket team help with the project. He didn’t want more confused feelings. He already had them during the afternoon when having lunch and during the night when he and Seungcheol texted, every single day!

Since his own club members had disappointed him, Soonyoung turned to the person sitting across him and next to Jihoon: the basketball team’s small forward, Jeon Wonwoo. After all the lunchtime they spent together, Soonyoung already knew that Wonwoo was not the “Ice Prince” as his generally-placid face had implied. He’d seen Wonwoo smile, laugh, even talk more than 5 sentences in an hour (not that often though). Still, someone as quiet as Wonwoo would probably feel forced to spend his free time dancing, right?

Soonyoung was once again disappointed when Wonwoo revealed his thoughts on the matter. 

“Sure. I don’t mind if it’s helping.”

_Unbelievable._

Frustrated, Soonyoung dismissed the topic by saying that he’ll talk to his club members after school. He already had a hunch, but he’s still mortified to see that none of his members objected to the idea. 

And so Soonyoung ended up meeting Seungcheol and the gang on a Saturday morning at the dance club room. Aside from his close friends in the club, there were 2 juniors, 1 sophomore, and 1 senior member helping with the filming. The other senior member, Naoto, was the main instructor. First, Naoto showed the basket boys a simple routine so they could get an image of what they were going to do. The boys nodded and smiled; it had seem easy enough.

As expected from athletes, they had strong foundation and good sense of balance to follow the steps. However, Mingyu wasn’t following as good as the others. His movements were hesitant and his face looked sour. With a heavy sigh, Minghao approached the tall boy. Their conversation reached Soonyoung who happened to stand nearby.

“I’m big and awkward,” said Mingyu with a pout. “I can’t do this.”

It’s fascinating to see Mingyu, who’s at least 180 cm tall, shrank and seemed smaller than Minghao when the latter glared at him and said, “Nonsense.”

Minghao told Naoto that he’d like to teach Mingyu first before letting him join the others. So they both went to a corner and Minghao guided Mingyu through each step. Despite his intimidating glare at first, Minghao was very patient. He’d smile and praise when Mingyu got each step done, and soon enough, Mingyu was moving with relaxed vibe.

Though from Soonyoung’s observation, it seemed that Mingyu might had been too relaxed… The basketball player moved his limbs according to the routine, but his eyes were fixed on Minghao’s face. Soonyoung didn’t have to step closer to see the hearts overflowing from Mingyu’s eyes. “Oh boy...” Soonyoung sighed at the sight. 

Soonyoung was slightly distracted when he felt someone approaching on his right. He glanced to see Seungcheol standing there, looking at the pair at the corner. Soonyoung’s heart skipped a beat.

“Cute,” said Seungcheol.

Soonyoung huffed. “Look at your kid. So obvious.” 

His words got Seungcheol chuckling. “Oh yes, he’s gone deep.”

“Why Minghao though?” Soonyoung wondered out loud. “It’s not that they have similar interest or anything.” It’s true that he was trying to talk about something he could remove his attention from the fact that Seungcheol was standing shoulder to shoulder with him, but there’s a part of Soonyoung that was genuinely curious.

“Well, when falling in love...”

Soonyoung’s brain told him not to turn his head, but there’s something in Seungcheol’s voice that compelled him. Alarm was blaring inside his mind, _stop_ , _abort_. But it was too late. He’s already facing Seungcheol, who also had his head turned and was looking at him with such tender eyes. Before realizing it, Soonyoung found that he was lost in those eyes and torn between immersing himself in them or getting out and never come back.

“...you can’t choose who you fall for.”

At that moment, Soonyoung felt everything. The jolt of electricity running under his skin, butterflies in his stomach, warmth greeting his cheeks. It was so overwhelming that his brain short-circuited. _Was he even breathing?_ Soonyoung wasn’t sure.

His daze was interrupted when Seungcheol continued, “You know, Soonyoung.” The captain’s emotive eyes started to waver, but there was effort to keep them on Soonyoung. It was as if whatever he’s going to say next was making him nervous, and that triggered the loudest alarm inside Soonyoung’s head.

“I actually—“

The warning siren from his brain forced Soonyoung to recover his ability to think, and the result was him interrupting Seungcheol’s words with a hurried, “Let’s go back to practice!” The relief of having Seungcheol stop speaking only lasted a split second, giving way to a lasting guilt that sank in when he saw a flash of disappointment and embarrassment on Seungcheol’s face.

“Yeah.” The captain nodded stiffly, but he gave Soonyoung a smile. A small, sad smile.

At home later that day, Soonyoung spent a good portion of his night squirming on his bed, grabbing his phone only to slam it to the bed the next second, then picking it up again, then slamming it, over and over. Seungcheol hadn’t texted him yet and the thought of not getting any message from Seungcheol _at all_ made him feel…. lonely. 

Soonyoung maneuvered himself so he was lying on his back, the phone inside the grip of his right hand. With intensity he glared at the white ceiling above him, as if he could force it to tell him why was he contemplating whether he should text Seungcheol first. Why _didn’t_ he text Seungcheol first? Why was this… thing with Seungcheol so confusing? Why was _Seungcheol_ confusing? No, why was _he_ being so confused about Seungcheol?

It was lost on Soonyoung how long he’d been staring at the ceiling with thoughts bombarding his mind. All he knew that suddenly the turmoil inside his brain was interrupted by a “ding!” of notification. It’s amazing how fast it made Soonyoung rearrange himself into a cross-legged position and bring the phone to his face. 

Soonyoung tried to stop hope from soaring high at the display of Seungcheol’s name on the notification box. He didn’t want to be disappointed. It might be a text to tell that this will be the last time Seungcheol would contact him. An image of Seungcheol’s disappointed and embarrassed face from this afternoon popped up into Soonyoung’s head, prompting the negative expectation. He couldn’t even explain to himself why Seungcheol’s expression made him anxious... No,it’s rather that he had a guess but didn’t want to confirm his speculation. 

With trepidation, Soonyoung pointed a finger to click on the notification, which opened up the chat thread between him and Seungcheol. The latest message said, “Minyoung has a new friend. She looks like you.” The text was followed by a photo of a hamster bigger than Soonyoung had ever seen of its kind.

Soonyoung could hear his own laughter filling the bedroom. Instead of finding Seungcheol’s text funny, it sounded like a burst of relief.

****

The dance club 1st years worked fast and finished editing the video by Monday. Soonyoung showed it to the basket boys during lunch, not forgetting to thank them again for the help. It put a smile on Soonyoung’s face to see the boys looking happy with the result. Especially Mingyu.

“Look!” He turned to Minghao with an ear-splitting grin. “I could do it like you taught me!” He looked like a giant puppy looking at his owner after successfully getting a stick or a ball they throw. Minghao chuckled before smiling and praising Mingyu, glee in his voice. They look cute smiling next to each other, Soonyoung thought, somehow blushing.

Meanwhile, trapped in the middle of dance club and basketball club members, Jihoon showed curiosity and leaned closer to Wonwoo’s side as he tried to get a view of the video on Soonyoung’s phone. Soonyoung briefly noticed it at first, as he was busy commenting on how Seokmin’s brighter-than-sunshine smile made the dance lesson look enjoyable, a notion that was responded with agreement from Chan and Seungkwan and a humorous offer from Seokmin to transfer into the dance club.

Then the video got to the part where Jun was teaching some steps to Wonwoo. It was Jun’s task to support the main instructor Naoto by assisting any students in need of extra help. Soonyoung liked how the scene turned out because it showed Jun’s amiable way of teaching. Even better was the way Wonwoo looked relaxed as he learned, and the small smile he had on his face after getting a movement right would surely give a good impression to viewers.

That’s when Jihoon wriggled out of the human pile and took advantage of Minghao and Mingyu’s empty spot to take a seat beside Jun, who didn’t join the others to watch the video and was calmly enjoying his lunch at the end of the table. At that time Soonyoung didn’t pay closer attention to his best friend and continued to watch the video along with the other boys.

But after the whole video was finished and Soonyoung went back to his seat to start eating, he could see that Jihoon was being weird. His best friend didn’t participate much in any conversations going on the table, kept glaring at his lunchbox like the plastic container had done something terrible to him. He still responded when Soonyoung talked to him, but the edges of his lips were stiff and his replies were short. Yep, he’s in a bad mood.

Usually Soonyoung would leave Jihoon be. Jihoon needed his own space for sorting things out and he did it in his own pace. Years of being friends had thought Soonyoung that. But Wonwoo probably did not know how to deal with this Jihoon. Who knows, he might not even noticed Jihoon’s sour mood. The basketball player kept trying to chat with Jihoon (he took the seat next to Jihoon when Mingyu and Minghao were still engaged in a conversation at Vernon’s side of the table), seeming unaware of Jihoon’s growing irritance. It was painfully obvious for Soonyoung as if Jihoon had a large throbbing vein on his head just like in the comic books. 

Soonyoung saw Wonwoo pausing for a while before asking Jihoon, “Are you mad at me?” The way Wonwoo’s voice sounded so soft made Soonyoung wanted to tune out from the conversation. He felt like he’s not supposed to hear this.

But there’s no denying his curiosity, making his hearing sensitive and picking up Jihoon’s answer. It was another question. “Why would I?” Jihoon’s voice had a tinge of bitterness, but it didn’t sound very confident.

“Because--”

Wonwoo’s words were interrupted as Jihoon twisted his body towards Wonwoo, mouth opened to say who knows what. Jihoon never got the chance to say it because his right hand hit a bottle of soy sauce in front of Wonwoo, spilling its content to the white surface and eventually on Wonwoo’s lap.

“Oh God!” Jihoon yelled. He turned his guilty eyes to Wonwoo and said his apologies in a frantic voice. “I’m so sorry, ugh, I didn’t—“

“It’s fine.” Wonwoo said calmly. With swift movements he immediately took the soy sauce bottle and put the cap on, ensuring no more liquid could came out. Then he stood up from the bench, showing the darkening spot on the right upper side of his trousers. 

“I just got dejavu,” Minghao chimed in as his eyes followed the mess on the table and Wonwoo’s pants.

Wonwoo assured Jihoon once again that he’s fine and left the cafeteria to get changed. Jihoon still had that sorry look on his face as he wiped the dark liquid off the table and floor. After everything was clean, he walked out of the cafeteria, saying that he’s going to check on Wonwoo.

Everyone else was back to lunch and their previous conversations, not talking about the incident again even after Wonwoo and Jihoon came back as they were too caught up in Seokmin’s latest anecdote. Seokmin’s retelling was expressive and hilarious, but Soonyoung was only half listening. His mind was preoccupied with ideas on how to talk to Jihoon and find out what was bothering him. 

But everything flew out of Soonyoung’s head when Seungcheol called his name. The basketball captain was telling him about some bracelets he just saw on Instagram. Although Soonyoung wasn’t interested in the topic, he was surely interested in the way Seungcheol spoke enthusiastically. Besides, it wasn’t the right place and time to talk with Jihoon. So Soonyoung thought he could find the chance later on the train ride home.

“What do you think about this one?” asked Seungcheol as he tilted his phone screen so that Soonyoung could see the picture of… an ankle? At first Soonyoung couldn’t understand why Seungcheol was showing him a photo someone’s ankle but he quickly realized that he wanted him to see the ankle bracelet around it. The bracelet had thin, golden chain and one star-shaped charm. Soonyoung had never paid attention to bracelets or anklets before noticing that Seungcheol often wore them around his wrist on his after-school/weekend Instagram posts, so he knew little about the designs. But the ankle bracelet on this photo looked simple, it’s nice. 

So he told Seungcheol exactly what he thought. “It’s simple, looks nice.”

Seungcheol’s eyes twinkled with almost blinding excitement, but were quickly tainted with worry. “It’s uh… buy-one-get-two deal…” The basketball captain seemed to struggle with his next words, giving enough time for Soonyoung’s brain to process the situation. The result made his cheeks feel warm.

After a gulp, Seungcheol finally spoke. It was just as Soonyoung deducted. “It’s only wearable in the summer but maybe you’re interested?” The captain’s words came out not as confident as in Soonyoung’s imagination though. “Just thought you could wear it on the stage or…” 

It might be a curse that today Soonyoung’s mouth decided to blurt precisely what’s going on in his mind. “The same design? I mean, the deal.”

Seungcheol blinked his eyes a few times before answering, “Yeah, uhm… actually it’s supposed to be a couple deal so they’re showcasing the same designs for this deal.” He swiped his thumb over the phone screen and showed another picture, this time there were two bracelets with the same design and text information about the buy-one-get-one-free. 

“But it doesn’t have too!” Seungcheol hastily added. The apprehension in his eyes made Soonyoung’s chest twist unpleasantly. “It’s not required so you can choose anything from the series.” 

Soonyoung wanted to wipe that worry away from Seungcheol’s orbs, but he could only manage and awkward nod and a “I’ll take a look and text you my choice later.” The way Seungcheol’s face lit up at his words made Soonyoung’s cheeks burned, but a fleeting voice inside his head told him that it’s worth it. Soonyoung ended up spending the rest of the school day thinking about it. Even when he’s looking at the whiteboard or his notebook, his head was filled with images of the anklet designs and Seungcheol’s smile.

“Maybe it’s okay if the color’s different...” Soonyoung muttered on the train ride home, not realizing that he had said it out loud until Jihoon asked him about it. Flustered, Soonyoung said it’s nothing. He didn’t want anyone to know that he’s considering getting a similar bracelet with the basketball captain.

*****

# The Fade Out

Soonyoung arrived at his usual cafeteria table alone and slightly frowning. He didn’t even realize he was scrunching his forehead when Jun, alone at the end of the table, called him. The others hadn’t arrived yet and it was just the two of them.

“Why the face?” Jun asked, eyes looking at Soonyoung across the table but hands moving efficiently to mix a bowl of noodle with its sauce and toppings. “Where’s Jihoon?”

“He’s got something with the club,” said Soonyoung shortly. It’s not that he didn’t want to explain, but he really didn’t know any more details. The content of Jihoon’s text only told him to go to the cafeteria first because the Science Club member had a business to take care of with his club. 

Soonyoung didn’t tell Jun that he found typos in Jihoon’s text. That’s very unlike Jihoon and got Soonyoung feeling uneasy. It might be nothing… but Soonyoung believed in hunches so he couldn’t completely brush it off. 

Soon enough Jun and Soonyoung were joined by Chan, Seungkwan, Minghao, and Mingyu. The rest of the basketball starting players followed later, led by Seokmin who complained about being left behind by Mingyu when he was finishing his business at the sophomore floor’s toilet. Seungcheol took his usual seat next to Soonyoung, and the head of the dance club scolded himself for fidgeting nervously as if this didn’t happen every weekday afternoon.

“Where’s Jihoon?” Seungcheol turned to Soonyoung, looking slightly confused. His doe eyes prompted the word “adorable” in Soonyoung’s head. _Knock it off_ , Soonyoung shook his head slightly.

“Thing with his club,” answered Soonyoung. He thought that Seungcheol would leave it at that, but to his surprise, the basketball captain scrunched his eyebrows and voiced his doubt.

“But you don’t think so,” Seungcheol stated. That got Soonyoung gulping. He didn’t expect Seungcheol to sense his concern.

“No, it must be his club,” Soonyoung replied. Jihoon might refrain from sharing, but he wouldn’t lie. At least Soonyoung was sure of that. “It’s just he seemed a bit weird, that’s all.”

The look of concern in Seungcheol’s eyes made Soonyoung wonder, was it for him or Jihoon? His stomach twisted at the thought of the latter, and for the first time in his life, Soonyoung felt spite against his own best friend. It was such an unexpected feeling, Soonyoung was taken aback and stayed quiet after that.

Meanwhile Seungcheol turned to Wonwoo across him. “Did Jihoon say anything to you?”. 

The small forward shook his head, but then he said, “He got out of the class as soon as the bell rang and went with Minseok.” Minseok was a sophomore member of the Science Club. So there was indeed a club emergency. 

Seungcheol took Wonwoo’s confirmation with a satisfied nod and turned to Soonyoung, saying that Jihoon should be fine. Soonyoung appreciated the gesture with a smile, even though he’s still feeling off, both from worry about Jihoon and the ill-thought flashing his mind earlier.

Soonyoung tried to distract himself when his eyes met Wonwoo’s. The basketball player had a hint of worry in his eyes. He actually didn’t know how much close Jihoon and Wonwoo were, not even knowing that the two were classmates because Jihoon had never mention Wonwoo before they all started spending lunch time together. Even after their new routine, Jihoon and Wonwoo didn’t go to the cafeteria together from their class. Jihoon would go to Soonyoung’s class first, which was in the direction of the cafeteria, while Wonwoo always went to Seungcheol’s class on the opposite side of the building. 

So as far as Soonyoung knew, Jihoon and Wonwoo were not that close. But who knew? Maybe in the classroom they did chat? Enough for Wonwoo to worry about Jihoon? It’s natural to worry about a classmate yet somehow Soonyoung’s gut was telling him that he’s missing something. In his mind, there were flashback images of Jihoon and Wonwoo chatting at the lunch table from their previous afternoons. There’s something there that caught Soonyoung’s attention but couldn’t put exact words to. 

Before Soonyoung could give any more thought to it, Jihoon arrived on their table. Everyone else welcomed him with easy smiles and greeting, while Soonyoung put more attention into observing his best friend. In Soonyoung’s eyes, Jihoon was obviously distraught. 

“Jihoon, are you okay?” asked Wonwoo, to Soonyoung’s surprise. Soonyoung didn’t think that anyone else would notice.

Jihoon looked as surprised as Soonyoung. The bespectacled boy widened his eyes at Wonwoo, then glanced towards Soonyoung. He seemed to relax a bit after seeing Soonyoung’s reassuring smile and gave his answer to Wonwoo. “Just a lot of thoughts about tomorrow’s contest.”

“What’s wrong?” Beyond his seemingly impassive face, Wonwoo seemed to be adamant in finding out about Jihoon’s worries. Soonyoung didn’t doubt that it was out of care, Wonwoo wasn’t the type who would deliberately pry into someone else’s life for his own amusement. But maybe Wonwoo hadn’t known Jihoon that well to figure that Jihoon would prefer being asked in a more private situation.

The other boys on the table started to pick up what’s going on and joined Wonwoo in asking what’s wrong with Jihoon. As Soonyoung expected, his best friend tensed under the attention.

Noticing the gazes on him, Jihoon looked around the table. At first he seemed to hesitate, but then finally he spoke out. “There’s a science competition tomorrow,” Jihoon started with a sigh. “But we might not be able to participate.”

“Oh, is it Hongdae?” Seungkwan chimed in from his seat across Jun. “Heard he got stomach ulcer.” He gave a regretful shake of his head. “Boy loves spicy food but his stomach doesn’t agree with him.”

“Yeah,” Jihoon’s eyes were now glinting with obvious exasperation. Maybe he thought there’s no use hiding it now. “Now he’s hospitalized.”

“There’s no backup member?” Seungcheol tilted his head to the right, his doe eyes widened in confusion. Soonyoung had to stop himself from squealing at the gesture. _Shame on you, Soonyoung!_ He was flabbergasted at what his brain decided to focus on when his best friend was in a pinch.

“Jimin isn’t eligible because she got into high school early and doesn’t meet the age requirement,” Jihoon explained. “Taejoo and Mijoo joined 4 competitions this year, more than this contest allows for participants. We don’t have anyone else.” 

While everyone else was voicing their sympathy on Jihoon’s situation, Wonwoo cleared his throat. He got everyone’s attention and then said, “I can substitute.”

Mingyu, Seokmin, and Vernon cheered for their teammate, seeming to find the situation exciting. Soonyoung chuckled at the boys’ enthusiasm, but he caught Seungkwan and Chan exchanging a knowing look from the corner of his eyes. Before he could think about what it meant, Jihoon spoke up.

“No!” The bespectacled boy looked slightly flustered at his own loud voice. “I mean... “ He turned towards Wonwoo on his left with a sorry look. “I don’t want to bother.”

“It’s nothing.” Wonwoo answered nonchalantly. 

Jihoon still looked unsure about the suggestion. "It's tomorrow and you’re going to have to skip class…"

"Mr. Park will adjust it," Wonwoo said with casual confidence. Mr. Park, the Science Club advisor, was also the homeroom teacher for Wonwoo and Jihoon's class.

Jihoon looked at Wonwoo with a hint of resignation on his face. "Practice?" he asked. When Wonwoo said the coach would let him skip for one day, Jihoon scrunched his eyebrows and turned to Seungcheol across the table.

“Missing one day won’t make him fall behind,” said Seungcheol in a reassuring smile. “And you’re his classmate. You know he’ll make a great substitute.”

At this point Jihoon looked like he’d given up to argue against the idea. With a sigh, he finally said, "Okay." Wonwoo showed a smile at the answer. It was a small smile, the edges of his lips were barely up, but it was there. 

It seemed that Soonyoung wasn't the only one who noticed the smile. Jihoon saw it too, and his reaction was not what Soonyoung expected. The bespectacled boy pouted. Lee Jihoon pouted at Jeon Wonwoo, prompting a wider smile from the latter, and that in turn made Jihoon look away with a huff and the tip of his ears going red.

_What was that?_

Soonyoung was itching to find out, but Jihoon quickly became unavailable to talk. The Science club had an emergency meeting and last preparations for the contest. It was far from done when Soonyoung had finished with his own club activities, so Soonyoung headed home alone with questions inside his head. At the competition day Jihoon went to school earlier because the team was heading to the contest venue together. Soonyoung had to give his best friend a good luck message via text.

Soonyoung finally got to see Jihoon the day after the competition. From the moment they walked together to the train station in the morning, Soonyoung could see that his best friend was in a good mood. Must be because of the contest, Soonyoung thought. But when he asked Jihoon about it, the latter explained that their team didn’t win. Jihoon looked completely relaxed as he told Soonyoung, and that’s the weirdest part. There were not many things that could make Jihoon be competitive and the Science club was one of them. From past experience Soonyoung expected Jihoon to look a bit more disappointed, yet there’s not a trace of that. Of course it’s a good thing… though it’s just… unexpected.

Jihoon’s good mood continued through lunch time, as shown with him contributing more in conversations than he would usually do. When Chan asked about the competition, he beamed. “We didn’t win,” he shrugged. “But we gave a quite impressive fight.” His eyes glinted behind his glasses. Jihoon was genuinely happy about the result.

“How’s Wonwoo?” Mingyu asked with a teasing look towards Wonwoo, as if doubting the older boy’s ability. The third-year only chuckled and let Jihoon answered.

“He’s amazing!” Jihoon blurted out, and the next second he seemed to regret it. Clearing his throat and regaining his composure, he continued. “He contributed 40% of our scores. Our members could learn one or two things from him.” He spoke with calmer tone, but there’s no denying the excitement in his eyes.

The table roared with praises and teasings towards Wonwoo and no one was paying attention to Jihoon, except for Soonyoung. He noticed how his best friend was looking at Wonwoo with gentle gaze, a small smile on his lips. Somehow that made Soonyoung blushed. It didn’t seem like a look of gratitude for helping out your club. It felt like something more personal.

On the train ride home that day, Soonyoung noticed Jihoon busy typing on his phone. He made a gesture to ask, and Jihoon answered, “Sorry. It’s just Wonwoo asking about homework.” He seemed nonchalant about it, but the tip of his ears were red.

That’s when Soonyoung gave himself a mental slap. How did he not see this? His own best friend and he didn’t even realize! No, it’s not the fact that Jihoon had Wonwoo’s contact and texting him. It’s beyond that.

His best friend was in love.

  
  


*****

Chan and Seungkwan were the last ones to arrive at the cafeteria today and they made quite the arrival. They’re not saying anything yet, but the way they posed in front of the table and swept their gaze around before walking to their seats were commanding attention, and that’s exactly what they got. 

When the pair finally spoke, it was Chan who started first. “Well, well.” Chan said in exaggeratingly loud voice. He threw a teasing gaze across the table towards Minghao and Mingyu—who looked back with boredom and pure confusion, respectively—and then exchanged glances with a smirking Seungkwan.

“Look—“ Chan took out his phone from his breast pocket with a grand gesture as impressive as his theatrical boyfriend. “—who’s decided to go public last night.”

Chan showed his phone screen, first towards Jun, Minghao, and Mingyu’s side. Jun’s eyes twinkled in recognition and smirked. Minghao rolled his eyes but he was smiling… and was that a hint of red on his cheeks? Meanwhile next to him Mingyu was _melting_ , face crumbling into a fond, grinning mess.

The other side of the table gave a variety of reactions from whistling to “My group chats wouldn’t stop talking about it last night” comments. Soonyoung took in the reactions with confusion. He had no idea what they were referring to. 

Feeling a bit annoyed about being left out, Soonyoung felt excited when Chan’s phone screen was finally facing towards him. The sight that greeted him was an Instagram story (yes, Soonyoung knew what it’s called now) from Mingyu’s account. The photo was of Minghao, sitting across a table in casual clothes, a lazy smile on his face. The caption said “my ❤”.

Chan laughed, probably because Soonyoung widened his eyes more than it was humanly possible. He let the dumbfounded Soonyoung took his phone.

Soonyoung swiped the screen with his forefinger and saw another story, this one was from Minghao’s account. Staring back at Soonyoung was Mingyu sitting in a room that had similar interior with Minghao’s photo. The basketball player had an ice cream cone in his hands. His lips were touching the soft cream as he looked at the camera. The caption simply said “Mine". 

While Soonyoung froze and could only blink dumbly, Chan took his phone back from Soonyoung’s hands. “So,” Chan started, only to let his boyfriend continued his words.

“How did it happen?” Seungkwan’s eyes glinted in curiosity and glee.

Mingyu opened his mouth, looking like he was ready to elaborate on every detail, but Minghao pinched his right cheek and stretched the flesh, causing Mingyu to whine in protest. Soonyoung blushed at the fondness in Minghao’s eyes as he looked at Mingyu.

Turning to Chan and Seungkwan, Minghao said, “Long story short: When you got this idiot pestering you all the time, you'll realize he's cute. Idiot, but cute.” He laughed when Mingyu pouted and gave a soft hit to his left arm, fondness still visible on the dancer's eyes. 

The revelation of Minghao and Mingyu’s relationship wouldn't leave Soonyoung's head the whole day. It was mixed with thoughts about Jihoon and Wonwoo’s… thing. Soonyoung had intended to talk with his best friend about it but always stopped himself every time. It’s just awkward. They had never talk about things like this before. Soonyoung didn’t even tell Jihoon about his crush on Jane in junior high (he didn’t mean for _anyone_ to know, if it wasn’t for his blabbering cousin Yuna who noticed and told his parents). And Jihoon had never told him about anyone he’s interested in. It just felt weird to start this topic after all these years.

The thoughts kept Soonyoung distracted even during club activity later that day. His concerned club members asked him what's wrong, but Soonyoung dismissed it with a simple "Nothing" and a fake smile. 

When practice ended, Chan invited them to get some chicken because he had a coupon for discount. Soonyoung was interested and Jun ecstatic, but Minghao shook his head. 

“Mingyu’s waiting,” said Minghao. He chuckled when Jun and Chan started a horribly unsimilar but very amusing roleplay of the new couple going on an after school date.

Soonyoung, on the other hand, had his attention on the way Minghao dealt with his new relationship and couldn’t take his eyes off Minghao’s easy smile and relaxed manner towards his friends’ teasing. His staring didn’t go unnoticed and Minghao raised an eyebrow instead of a question.

"Nah, it’s just… I can't believe you're dating a basketball player." Soonyoung faked a chuckle. He stopped when he saw the look in Minghao's eyes. Suddenly Soonyoung felt judged, as if he just did something wrong. But before he could find out exactly what, Minghao's gaze turned normal. There's still a lump in Soonyoung's chest, signalling a problem for him to address, but he chose to ignore it with hope that it'll go away eventually. 

While Minghao merely responded to Soonyoung's remark with a shrug, Jun and Chan snorted loudly.

"Pleeaaase," Chan said, dragging his words and rolling his eyes. Truly dramatic, maybe because he spent too much time with his actor boyfriend. Soonyoung had no idea what Chan’s implying so he asked with a confused “What?"

“Aw, come on.” Jun was the one who responded to Soonyoung’s question. He did it with a gleeful smirk that Soonyoung wanted to rub off, preferably with a good smack on the face.

“You will too.”

“What do you mean?”

Chan answered this one. “You and Seungcheol. Duh.” He and Jun laughed while Minghao merely sighed. 

“Wha-- I don’t-- He-- What??” Soonyoung stuttered his rebuttal. He did not expect to be confronted with this insinuation. He hadn’t even considered--

No. Didn’t his heart flutter every time his phone notified him of Seungcheol’s message? Didn’t he have the urge to gaze at Seungcheol’s face all the time they were talking? Didn’t he catch the sight of Seungcheol’s hand and want to hold it? So that meant--

Soonyoung shook his head to clear the thought out of his mind. It made his face too warm and his insides squirming, it was uncomfortable. He didn’t want what’s already in his heart and had tried so hard to ignore. 

When he got home later that day, his phone screen lit up with a chat notification. It’s from Seungcheol. Usually Soonyoung would immediately click on it, but tonight he swiped the notification away and didn’t open the KakaoTalk. He even stopped touching his phone, leaving it on the bed for hours until he came back to turn in for the night.

****

Soonyoung had never known that missing someone was such an agonizing feeling. 

It’s not like he couldn’t talk to or see Seungcheol. However for the past week their interaction had been limited, and it was all Soonyoung’s doing. Soonyoung no longer gave immediate reply to Seungcheol’s messages. He left them unread for hours, and then when they met at the cafeteria during lunch, Soonyoung would busy himself by chatting with their other friends. Last Friday he even went all his way to move to the edge of the bench, pushing Seungkwan and Chan to the center and between him and Seungcheol.

The pain of rejection was apparent in Seungcheol’s eyes every time Soonyoung tried to maneuver himself out of their interaction, but Soonyoung couldn’t help it. Ever since his conscious mind recognized the idea of him and Seungcheol dating, he constantly felt the urge to run away. 

Days passed and the situation got worse, up to the point that Seokmin and Vernon asked him if he had a fight with their captain (SEOKMIN and VERNON, can you believe it?). Soonyoung made up excuses, of course, and thankfully it seemed to convince them for the time being. 

The problem was Seungcheol didn’t give up on interacting with him. The basketball captain didn’t text as often as before, but he still made time to ask about Soonyoung’s day or give update about his favourite baby cousin Minyoung. Each day Soonyoung found it increasingly harder to keep his distance from Seungcheol. 

_And for what?_ The question popped up in Soonyoung’s head every day. He had yet to find the answer and despite the pain of longing keeping him tortured, Soonyoung continued to run away.

Soonyoung finally understood the cost of his avoidance two weeks later. He was in the dance club room, getting ready to get home after practice. Minghao was wiping the sweat off his neck with a coral blue hand towel on his right hand. Meanwhile his eyes were focused on the phone in his left hand. His thumb tapped on the screen with amazing speed, only stopping for Minghao to show a fond smile on his face.

"Ehem." Jun cleared his throat, prompting Minghao to look up from his phone. The sophomore looked at the senior with question mark in his eyes, but it didn't completely erase the somewhat goofy smile on his face.

"Must be nice, being a new couple and lovey-dovey," Jun said with an exaggerated sigh. "Aaah, when will my Cinderella or Prince Charming come?" He sounded half-lamenting, half-teasing. Minghao responded with a small laugh and a shook of his head.

"Seungkwan and I are still affectionate," Chan boasted with a proud smile. 

Minghao jokingly said, "Yes, my relationship sunbae. We will follow your footsteps and be a long-lasting couple." Chan gave him a solemn nod of approval.

"Whelp. With you guys all taken and Soonyoung following soon, I'll be that one miserable single friend in this group." Jun faked a sob and wiped the non-existing tears from under his eyes. Normally Soonyoung would tease him for being so dramatic, but Jun's words triggered a familiar discomfort inside Soonyoung.

"What do you mean, haha." Even Soonyoung could hear that his own laugh sounded awkward. "I don't have anyone to date."

Jun raised an eyebrow and gave him a teasing smirk. "Well, there's the basketball captain…"

While Soonyoung opened and closed his mouth like a fish, Chan asked him. "Are you guys fighting or something?" The question made Soonyoung close his mouth. He didn't know how to answer.

"Wait," Jun tilted his head to his right. "Who's fighting?" His honest confusion urged Minghao and Chan to let out a small groan.

"Really?” Chan looked at Jun with disbelief. “You noticed they had something but not when they’re being awkward around each other?”

“I’ve been busy taking care of my farm these days!” Jun defended himself with the excuse of his mobile game. Soonyoung didn’t play games so he didn’t really get it, all he knew was that the game was about building a virtual farm. 

Chan shook his head before turning back to Soonyoung. Uh-oh. Sonyoung wished Chan to keep his attention on Jun, but that’s not happening.

“So?”

“So what?”

“What’s the problem? Maybe I can help.” Chan’s voice didn’t have a hint of smugness, it was purely sincere. Soonyoung was thankful for it, but he really didn’t know how to say what’s bothering him.

That’s why Soonyoung said this instead. 

“Nothing. And I’m not going to date a basketball player.”

“Why?” Jun tilted his head to the left now.

“T-they’re sweaty.”

“We get sweaty too after practice.” Minghao deadpanned.

“Yeah, b-but--”

“Aww, he’s shy~” Jun teased. It made the discomfort crawling under Soonyoung skin grew even more intense.

“I am not--Look, there’s no way I’m dating the basketball club captain. What will people say?” Soonyoung tried to give his most convincing tone. 

His friends didn’t say anything to that, so Soonyoung thought he succeeded in closing the topic. But then he noticed that their gaze were fixed to something behind Soonyoung. With a feeling of trepidation, Soonyoung turned around.

He saw Seungcheol standing by the club room door. The captain had a small box in his palms, Soonyoung noticed, but his attention was grabbed by the way Seungcheol looked at him. Soonyoung recognized disappointment and sadness in Seungcheol’s eyes, similar to that day of tutorial video filming, but more intense.

“I, uh…” Seungcheol lifted the small box with his right hand, twirling it next to his face before pulling it back down and wrapping it inside his palms. “It’s the bracelet I told you about… But maybe I shouldn’t… I’ll just give it to someone else.” 

Seungcheol ended his words with a hasty goodbye and turned on his heels. A voice in Soonyoung’s head told him to run after the captain, but his legs were fixed to the floor. His whole body felt heavy. Maybe it’s the weight of his guilt and regret.

His friends decided it was best to leave him alone for now. Chan left after telling him to talk to Seungcheol after sorting his thoughts, while Jun patted his right shoulder encouragingly.

Minghao was the last one to leave. “Try to really listen.” His voice was gentle, but there’s no denying the disappointment in his eyes. “Maybe you’ll know what you should care about.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still working on the rest of the story but it's going to be around 3 chapters. Thanks for sticking with this story despite my irregular updates <3


End file.
